MidwifeKnits

Happy 2012

2012-01-08T08:58:00.003-09:00

It's been a while. Lots of business. Lots of babies....lots of travel....mostly good things. And...there is knitting. Gasp.
Visited baby girl down in OK over Thanksgiving. She wanted one of the cute earwarmers everyone is sporting these days. I used the Morning Stroll earwarmer pattern provided through Ravelry along with some bulky well marinated stash yarn to create this cute and super warm topper. She LOVES it! Sorry, but I just don't have any of the details other than I think I used size 11 needles, and a size J crochet hook for the flowers and leaves (patterns for those cobbled together from various links on Ravelry as well). All told it took abut 3 hours. Perfect for those quick gifts!

Right now, working on sox, and a scarf, and a sweater...more details as things progress! Knit On with your bad selves and I hope to keep up with the blogginess a little more this year....knitting goals for 2012? 4 pairs of sox, 2 sweaters. That's it...because scarves and hats and mitts really don't count.

Monday, Monday

2011-06-27T07:16:00.008-08:00

Ahhh....Monday, Monday....
Last week was crazy busy! Had an old friend visiting which kept me hopping. We took the Readers Digest Condensed version of the Alaska Tour. Traveled to Talkeetna and found a beautiful summer day. My friend flew Talkeetna Air Taxi to Ruth Glacier on Denali and was awestruck by the grandeur and majesty of it all.

We enjoyed another afternoon trip to Seward with a boat (my friend insisted it was a ship) to Fox Island where we skipped stones on the beach and had a lovely dinner of fresh grilled salmon.

We fished unsuccessfully for kings at the Eklutna Tailrace

then fed baby muskox at the muskox farm in Palmer.

Like I said, it was the condensed tour. I worked the whole week...caught 10 (yep ten) babies...the level of fecundity is astounding.

I am also in the throes of puppy parenting. Was "gifted" with a delightful new friend. Her name is Adele but I call her Addy for short. She's a now 13 week old Min Pin.

Like dynamite in a tiny dog body. Very fun and very energetic. Has increased the noise and clatter quotient of the household exponentially! And of course, she likes the knitting!

Speaking of knitting....yes, there still is.
I am currently enjoying the baby sock pattern from Joelle Hoverson's "more Last-Minute Knitted Gifts".....I picked this book up from Joann Fabrics a week or two ago because I fell in love with Leah's Lovely Cardigan. There are an awful lot of other super-cute patterns as well, and with the 50% coupon, it was a no-brainer.

Worked in the garden a bit yesterday, my Blue Himalayan Poppies are stunning!

Planted a raised bed full of strawberries and completed 2 more 3' x 6' x 12" boxes to paint and fill for veggies. Am envisioning a backyard with minimal grass mowing and lots of veggies and perennials along the Southern fence. Will spend this winter developing garden plans and hopefully get the landscaping initiated next spring.

Enough of my ramblings for the day. Time to mop the floor (thanks to puppy its a more than daily chore)...bills need to be paid, laundry needs to be folded. Thanks for the comments and support. You probably dont know it but you blog buddies are a fantastic source of comfort! Until next time...

Knit (or garden) on!

Cinque Terre

2011-06-21T08:13:00.002-08:00

candy colored neighbors clinging to Ligurian cliffs.......

Venice

2011-06-16T08:01:00.003-08:00

decaying grandeur,
ghosts.
imagination.
unforgiving elements.....

Here we go again....

2011-06-15T21:41:00.002-08:00

So, it's been over a year and a half since I last blogged....lots of good reasons...lots of life changes.....
Big breath....I got separated...I am getting divorced.
That was easier to write than expected. Such a small word for such a big change.
Yes, we sold the house...but, I myself, bought a new house. Much smaller, much older, much, much closer to work. Such an adorable cute house. I love it.
The daughter has grown up, moved out of state, and is pursuing her dream...working hard, learning life lessons, independently. Guess we did a good job. Miss her LIKE CRAZY!
I am OFFICIALLY middle aged. Over 50.
Took myself to ITALY for two weeks for my birthday. Best. Vacation. Of. My. Life. Ate gelato three times a day sometimes. Felt like a cliche'. But loved it. And will go back!
Still catching babies. A lot.
Still teaching at the University. A little.
Started working with SART as well...I'm SANE...(google it)..still the acronym makes me giggle inappropriately.
Losses....Tucker man...beautiful, loyal furfriend......hemangiosarcoma off his pancreas...passed away in April of this year. Peacefully. Surrounded by love.
Grandma Clara. Would have been 90 in July. Passed away peacefully May 11. I was holding her hand. It felt like....a soap bubble popped.....I looked down and she was gone. Miss. Her. Like. Crazy....more than I ever thought I would. Really. Still getting used to her being gone. Still see things at the store and think "oh, she will like this"....and realize belatedly that she's gone.
So many many changes. And yet...I still knit. I still catch babies. I still am me.
I think, it is time to start blogging again.
If you are still out there and reading this...let me know...

A Delightful Thanksgiving Holiday and an Almost Finished Object

2009-11-29T18:04:00.003-09:00

What is this?

It's my February Lady Sweater....pinned out and blocking. I was able to finish her during the few days off after Thanksgiving. I think it turned out well..and this photo is much more true to color (Calypso Green) than the previous pics. Modeled shots will come later this week for sure!

Despite having to cover L&D Wednesday day and overnight Thursday night...and the multitudes of babies accompanying the holiday, I was able to have a lovely day Thursday with the family. Much of the prep work, and the homemade cranberry sauce was completed on Monday and Tuesday. Thursday morning was devoted to putting the turkey in the oven, along with the stuffing in a side dish pan (we do NOT like our stuffing in our turkey...we like our stuffing crunchy on top! and full of wonderful things like sausage and cranberries and pecans and savory saute'd onions and celery and such)...

Had the best darn sweet potatoes (not yams) whipped up with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla and egg...smothered with a crispy crust of toasted chopped pecans, brown sugar, flour and butter....even the teen preferred them to the marshmallow covered variety...in fact, there are none left. None. Between the granny, the girl, and the man...they were devoured.

The spinach salad added just the perfect touch of green leafy things....

For dessert, pumpkin pie (with whipped cream of course) and a decadent apple/cranberry pie topped with walnut streusal...my personal favorite.

Life is good. I have much to be thankful for. And the girl GRADUATED from high school!

With a decent GPA and all. A semester early. She's working full time for now, and will likely work at a lodge this summer before leaving for college in the fall. Yes. Life IS good. Here's hoping you all enjoyed a wonderful day with friends and/or family members....

Until next time...KNIT ON!

Long Time No Blog

2009-11-09T10:20:00.007-09:00

Yes, I know it's been months. But I have been using my time productively. Honest.
Since we last connected, I've hiked through enchanting Alaskan terrain covered in waterfalls and glaciers and lakes.

I've traveled to Peru for a volunteer medical mission, a life-changing experience if ever there was one....

Hiked the Sacred Valley Inca Trail and watched the sunrise over Macchu Piccu.

And now back home, reinvested in myself...have begun a rigorous training program towards a triathlon next summer.

I'm feeling great, feeling strong, and yes, I am still knitting. Knitbud Ruth and I are doing a mini-KAL...it's her first grown-ass woman sized sweater...yes, it's the ubiquitous February Lady Sweater....I know, I know, I started one of these a year ago...but it just wasn't a good marriage of pattern and yarn at the time...this one..much improved! I'm using Elann.com's luscious Highland Wool in Calypso Green (which is actually somewhat greener than it shows in the photos)

purchased during one of their amazing bag sales a year or more ago...and if you noticed the clever stitch markers between each 7 stitch lace repeat..why they are nothing more than cut up drinking straws (because who has eleventyjillion matching stitch markers?)...clever idea culled from the FLS forum on Ravelry.

So, I'm back...not sure how frequently I'll be posting, or what the content will end up being...but I've missed the blogging...until next time...

Knit On!

It Was Like Giving Birth......To Myself....

2009-07-06T08:15:00.013-08:00

"What the hell is she talking about?" you might be asking yourself .......well, it went down like this.....
A few months ago, my friend "Sassy Nurse Heather" (who you might remember from the Beer Train episode) and I were talking about growing older, bucket lists, life goals..etc. And one thing that we both wanted to do was hike the Crow Pass Trail from Girdwood to Eagle River. Crow Pass is a 26 mile hike through some incredibly rugged, yet stunningly beautiful wilderness, replete with glaciers, glacial streams, waterfalls, mountains, wildlife,...you name it. So guess what. We did it!

We planned and prepped and initially had thought to do a three day backpacking trip, but then decided to cut it down to two days, thereby lightening the backpacks by at least a pound or so.

Here we are at the trailhead, don't we look cute!

Gratuitous trailhead waterfall beauty shot.
Heather was very excited!

The view back from where we came....

why yes, now I CAN say "I've looked at clouds from both sides now"

The wildflowers were spectacular! Wild columbine, lupine.....

Miniature Jacob's Ladder.....

The first four miles or so are uphill all the way....but at least this part of the trail had relatively good footing...

Narrow, and steep...then things got a little more...'interesting''!

More of the looking back from whence we came....

And get, this, a mountain goat wandered right down the trail in front of us to munch on a bit of grass. Why yes...thoughts of cashmere did go through my mind...and nerd that I am, I might have even voiced them to fellow knitter Heather..who being not so much the nerd, rolled her eyes.

There was lots of the shlepping across steep and slippery snow berms....
But we were rewarded with an amazing up close and personal view of the glacier...
STRONG IS BEAUTIFUL!
About 7 miles in and still feeling good!
So is Heather!

How could you not in the presence of this type of greatness.....
The trail became progressively rougher....
3500 feet above sea level...now we are at truly in "The Pass"
Not a glacier but still a beautiful scene...

Me and Heather having a Kodak moment!

I know, doubles, but this was so gorgeous I couldn't help myself...

And we kept on trekking.....
and trekking.....

Not so happy with the slippery, steep slopes.....
In fact, after the third one, my knees were visibly shaking.....but still we kept going...and the terrain became even rougher...lots of sharp protruding rocks....

yep...lots of rocks...aka ankle busters...

with the occaissional 100 feet of decent trail just to give you hope...
amazing terrain.....

and this was only the tiny glacial stream we had to cross....so cold it stings...and then makes you go numb....and a two city block wide one yet to cross.......

It was an indescribable first day....we crossed this bridge and continued on to set up camp on the river bank...a total of just under 13 miles the first day. I was whipped. I'm waiting for someone else's pics of day 2...my camera battery died. Let's just say Day 2 was even more physically challenging....and I think my 40 lbs of backpacking stuff doubled it's weight. We crossed a big cold glacial river, crossed ravines on single peeled log bridges by holding onto a rope above our heads, and used knotted ropes to pull our sorry butts up and down steep gullies. More glaciers, more waterfalls, more incredible scenery. Oh, and we ran into not one...but two...black bears, one only 80 feet away. But I will save that part of the tale for the accompanying photos. Until then...I will tell you, I've only ever been so tired, so sore, so exhilarated and so dang amazed once before...and that was when I gave birth to my daughter. This two day trip gave me back my faith in my physical abilities. And, guess what, we are planning another big adventure in 3 weeks!

A Quick Hello

2009-06-25T19:08:00.004-08:00

Summer's been busier than I like....working, summer fun (hiking, canoeing, etc.) and teaching a course at the University on Thursday evenings (remind me NOT to do this again). And of course, the man had a total hip replacement last Friday. He's doing well, getting around on crutches now...has made it up and down all the stairs. Just slow healing...but already the hip itself feels much much better. Saw this momma moose and her two babies on the way home from UAA and had my camera in the car. Thought I'd share a little Alaska moment with you all....these calves appear to be about 5-6 weeks old...so sweet! (Remember you can click on the pictures if you want to see them closeup!)

In the knitting, I finished Cosima while at the hospital with the man...but made the darn neck ribbing too small. Finally ripped that out this morning and restarted it. Should be finished in the next day or so and then I'll post a pic. Well, that's all in a nutshell for today...until next time...knit on!

Good Food (but no pictures!)

2009-05-27T19:44:00.004-08:00

I'm back to work this Friday. It's been great having a few weeks off to do fun things with friends, spend some quality time with the man, and work on some home and garden chores.

Memorial Day weekend was lovely. Russ and I drove north to Talkeetna Saturday afternoon. We stayed at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge and spent a pleasant afternoon on their back deck with appetizers, good beer, and a great view of Mt. McKinley. That night, we attended another of their "Wine Dinner"s. Amazing gourmet food paired with different wines for each course.

Sadly, I left my camera in the room, otherwise you'd have pictures to accompany this narrative...you'll just have to imagine I suppose.

On a plate when we sat down was a large soup spoon. In the bowl of the spoon was a rolled up piece of prosciutto next to a scoop of what appeared to be melon-colored tapioca. I guessed that it was caviar of some sort. There was a small sprig of thyme lying across the top of it all. We were instructed to "eat up" and enjoy the entire mouthful. The salty prosciutto was enhanced by the thyme, but I couldn't find any "fishyness" at all that I normally associate with caviar. In fact, there was a melon flavor. It was actually quite tasty.

Chef Zimmy, then explained that it was prosciutto with cantaloupe that had been treated to look like caviar! Fake out extraordinaire! Cute.

The first course was served and was a deliciously creamy White Asparagus and Shrimp Bisque. Frothed cream was beautifully swirled in the pink bisque making for a lovely presentation. It was so good that if I'd been at home, I'd have licked the bowl. As it was, I did think about it, but after a furtive glance around me, opted to show a little class and not. It was paired with a Chateau St. Michelle Indian Wells Riesling. Normally, I'm not a Riesling gal, finding them much too sweet. This was dryer than I expected and was an excellent pairing for the bisque. Yum!

The next course was a Lobster Ravioli with a Shallot and Sweet Pea Emulsion drizzled with Carrot Oil. The ravioli was as large as the palm of my hand and a good 2-3 tall! Stuffed with succulent lobster, and sitting in a puddle of pureed sweet peas. You could see the orange carrot oil fancifully swirled through, but I honestly didn't taste it at all. This was heavenly. And filling. I wanted bread to clean the plate. Sadly, there was none :) It was paired with my favorite wine of the evening. Yep, I found a new favorite Chardonnay. This was Chateau St. Michelle's Canoe Ridge Chardonnay. I've been to many wine tastings and have learned to appreciate and identify the different descriptors for the flavors but had never ever found a wine that I could honestly call 'buttery'. I found one tonight in the Indian Ridge. Wow. It was delicious. So much so, that after dinner, when we were able to mingle and go to the wine tables and get additional glasses of our favorites, I did so...twice. Yep, it was THAT good. And of course, a great pairing for the lobster ravioli.

Next came the salad. This was a nice wedge of St.Andre triple cream cheese surrounded by dried black figs atop micro greens. These little greens looked like lawn clippings...or like someone had raided the terrarium with cuticle scissors. Teeny, tiny little greens. A bit 'precious' if you asked me...in presentation anyway...the dressing though..oh my god...it was drizzled with just a few drops of Honey and Lavender Vinaigrette. Now I love the fragrance of lavender. It's one of my favorites. I'd never thought ever in my wildest imaginings of lavender as a food enhancer. I mean really, who thinks of this stuff? Chef Zimmy's sister evidently lives in Hawaii on a lavender farm which is where he procured the lavender oil to make this concoction. It tasted amazing. Like I think heaven would if you ate it. I want more honey lavender vinaigrette. And St. Andre's triple cream cheese wedges. Lactose intolerance be damned.
The wine was forgettable. Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills Chardonnay. After the Canoe Ridge Chardonnay...this was nothing, nada.

This was Chef Zimmy's first wine dinner. Chef Felix had been with these events since their inception four or five years ago. He retired last year. A wonderful chef. He was very flamboyant and had a delightful European accent which added flair to his sometimes over-the-top descriptions of our dishes. Chef Zimmy on the other hand...well, this kid definately has chef talent...but what a kid...shy, soft-spoken...he looks like Harry Potter...like he's maybe all of 16...but the kid can cook and wowza, what an imagination.

Our intermezzo...a palate cleanser...was (get this!) an Heirloom Tomato Sorbet and a Lemon and Olive Oil Sorbet on an Asiago Crisp! I looked askance when I read this on the menu...pshaw...I mean really...Tomato Sorbet...lemon and OLIVE OIL sorbet...but guess what...it worked..it worked really really well. I LOVED the Heirloom Tomato Sorbet...and the olive oil really accented the lemony goodness of the other one. It was obviously really really good olive oil. What kind of magic was this? Created by the boy chef..it was delightful.

The main course was next. A Veal Osso Bucco on Turnip Puree with it's own basting juice. I'm not a veal fan. This tasted very nice and was very tender...but, i'm just ethically against veal...the turnip puree was lovely though...smooth and creamy and sweet and earthy all at once. Yum. It was paired with my very least favorite wine of the evening...which the wine dude touted as "the best of the best" "only 1% of the top grapes" go into making the Ethos Syrah. Too strongly aromatic, too fruity, too sharp..too whatever. Not my kind of wine. Not to my taste. I'm sure other, more sophisticated palettes would disagree.

Lastly, Dessert! Picture a miniature torte on your dessert plate...the bottom layer, a good half-inch thick, crushed pistachios...the second layer, a full inch and a half of richly decadent dark chocolate mousse, the third layer, strawberry rhubarb compote, the fourth and topmost layer another inch and a half of thick rich bavarian cream...and crispy dark chocolate cookie lightning bolts crowning the treat...additional strawberry rhubarb compote mounded to the side....bliss! oh, and the wine...another winner...a smoothly rich Conn Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Oh my, it did go so very very well with the dark chocolate delight.

I learned a bit more about good wines and my tastes...I had a delightful gourmet dinner from an up and coming young chef...I tried impressively adventurous cuisine...and after a few more glasses of the Chateau St. Michelle Canoe Ridge Chardonnay, happily took myself off to our room for the evening and slept ever so well. And wonderfully, no headache the next day (I remembered to drink a LOT of water between each glass of wine! And it worked like a charm!) We left the Lodge around 9a the next morning in order to relieve the grannysitter. It was great to have a night out with the man. He's very good to me that way. I look forward to the lodge's next "Wine Dinner" at the end of the season. I have more Memorial Day adventures to blog about...but that'll have to wait until next time. Until then...Knit On!

Seward Roadtrip 5/16-17/09

2009-05-21T08:20:00.007-08:00

(Driftwood at Lowell Point, Seward, AK)

This past weekend, my BFF MaryKay and I celebrated our birthdays with a little roadtrip to Seward, AK. It's just a beautiful 2hr drive with fantastic scenery along the way.

We stayed at the Seward Resort which is a lower-cost alternative for military personnel and their families, in a nice condo (with or without fireplace) that can sleep up to 6 people quite comfortably.

We ate well, drank adult beverages, walked the boat harbor pretending to boat shop.

(Harbor, Seward, AK)

I have always loved the smell of the sea......it reminds me of amniotic fluid...i know..wierd..huh..

Saturday was "opening day" for the summer/touristy/fishing season and was celebrated with a parade, softball games, and street dance with live music. We had a great dinner at "Christo's" across the street from the Alaska SeaLife Center, then drove to Lowell Point and rambled along the beautiful beach for a while. There were sea otters playing in Resurrection Bay....you can just barely see their heads in these pictures, but trust me, they were there.

Sunday morning we got up early and hiked Exit Glacier. The weather was highly cooperative, with warm, sunny, clear skies. We met several tourists along the way, rambled along the riverbed for a while, and were back to the car by noonish.

On the drive home, we saw other intrepid Alaskans playing outside. There were hundreds of people fishing for hooligan along Turnagain Arm, but what made us stop the car and get out? Kite-surfing!

We watched these folks for a good half-hour to forty-five minutes!

It was a great weekend and a much-needed break from the fam. I think we just may do it again some day! Until next post.....KNIT ON!

You Gotta Watch THIS!

2009-05-13T23:00:00.003-08:00

Cosima Capers...crappers!

2009-05-06T06:40:00.003-08:00

Months ago I fell in love with Berroco's Cosima pattern.

Showing it to a friend, she said, "yep, that's definately your style". This pattern was not to be found in Anchorage (yes, I even sent DH on a mission for it...and called all the LYSs myself in disbelief). I finally ordered it through Webs and it came in the mail a few weeks ago. Then, Elann.com had a bag sale of their Seta Lana (50% wool/50% silk chunky weight buttery goodness) and I indulged (ahem) quite heavily. If I didn't say it before, I'll tell you, this is mondo wonderful luxurious buttery fiber. A delight to knit. Amazing, glowing, deeply saturated colors. I decided on the Raspberry for MY Cosima.

I swatched and got gauge on the first go round, with the called for needles even..wow..that NEVER happens for me anymore. Even with a nice blocking, yep...same needles. So I started the back, merrily knitting along, enjoying the pattern, the yarn, the stitching. Just an hour or so each night...We have had AMAZING WARM SUNNY..DID I SAY WARM...weather and other recreational pursuits diminished my knitting time....but anyway, last night I picked up my almost half-finished back and thought to myself..."self..this just doesn't look quite right".

Now, the picture on the pattern only shows the fronts...but one would think that the pattern on the back SHOULD match the patterning on the fronts right? I read through the rather simple instructions...no, no different chart for the back. I compared and read my knitting against the chart and realized....for no particular reason...that I had just jumped over a big old 22 row section of said chart.

I kind of felt like an idiot...Pearl agreed and gave me a look as if to say "can't help you sister".

So instead of knitting last night. I ripped back a bit more than half of what I'd knitted, replaced it on the needles with appropriate stitch markers, and decided to walk away slowly and start anew another day.

And that's all I have to say about that. Knit on.

In Preparation for Summer....

2009-04-29T16:07:00.003-08:00

I have a new finished object to show off. And frankly, I think it's quite adorable!

Back in March, St. Patty's day in fact, I treated myself to an Elann.com bag sale of the discontinued Needful Yarns 'Geranium". I purchased a bag of Sea Glass and a bag of Valencia. This yarn in skein looks like a thick/thin/variagated boucle and is listed as bulky weight. The Sea Glass is a melange of turquoise, cream and olive. Intriguing yarn.

I swatched...and swatched...and swatched...and for the life of me could not figure out a use for such an insolent fabric.

Somewhere along the way, on Ravelry, I read someone's comment...and pipe up if it was your idea because I cannot remember whose comment it was...about the possibility of using this yarn for Waterlily (Interweave Knits Spring 2006). Now, the original uses Colinette Giotto, so subbing the Geranium was quite an imaginative stretch...but I figured, what the heck, and played around with needle sizes until I got the fabric I liked. (The pattern suggests 10, 101/2 and 11s...I used 8, 9, 10s)

Wow! What a cute little pattern. I love long drapey tops, I love 'racerback' style exposed shoulders.

I love just knitting in the round on and on while watching lots of fun programs (like Season 3 of The Tudors..pant, pant) and the HBO movie "Grey Gardens"(which I watched THREE times..I never hardly ever watch a movie more than once..on purpose), and Saving Grace, and The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (alright, busted, I watched A LOT of TV last week). I love having just a teensy bit of eyelet here and there for shaping and interest.

I love the swingy little flouncy bottom.

Now, I'll tell you. This stuff was some lumpy mess before blocking. But a quick soak (and sad to tell you it bled like blue hell through 3 rinses..but a vinegar bath stopped that noise!) and a nice patting out into shape...Well ladies and gentlemen what we have is a great little summer top!

Perfect for cropped pants. Or with a drawstring skirt...with a cami or Tee underneath, or just by it's own self.

Despite the full body picture, it truly is a flattering piece. Even my daughter said so...and getting a complement from your 17 yr old daughter..well everyone knows that's high praise.

So once we start getting a little more warmth with our sunshine up here, I think this will be getting a LOT of use this season. And that's all I have to say about that.

I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World

2009-03-27T18:10:00.007-08:00

This story has no knitting content, but it's how I spent my morning today, and in my opinion, an important story to be told. It's a bit long and drawn out, so you may want a refreshing beverage before you begin to read.

This story begins in 1992. I was the clinical manager at the time for the largest private Ob-Gyn practice in Anchorage. We had a new patient, 41 year old Eva, who was pregnant with her first (and only) child. Due to her age, she was immediately placed on the 'Hi-Risk" list and part of my job was to follow these patients closely to assure that none of their appointments were missed or labs fell through the cracks etc.

Eva had other plans. She most certainly DID NOT consider herself high-risk. She had been a midwife in Sweden, her country of birth, and had worked most recently as a flight nurse accompanying travelers with health concerns to destinations around the world. This job brought her to Anchorage on more than one occasion which is how she met "Jim", the father of her child and soon to be her husband. Eva declined amniocentesis and a host of other "routine high risk" labs, an accelerated appointment schedule, etc. She happily set up housekeeping in the Mat-Su Valley while Jim ran the auto repair shop in Anchorage. She was intelligent, interesting, funny, and we soon became friendly through the multiple phone calls I was required to make to her to document her declination of services. When she came to appointments, we would have tea in my office and enjoy the conversation of our beginning friendship.

She and Jim married, but just a few months later, when Eva was around 5 months pregnant, disaster struck. Jim had a major heart attack. He was flown to a hospital in California, but died despite the best surgical efforts available at the time. A heartbroken Eva returned to try and put the pieces back together, close up the auto shop, and await the birth of their daughter. We became much closer during this timeframe and she shared her fears and dreams with me as she had not yet made many friends in Alaska. My own daughter was less than a year old, and we talked a great deal about motherhood. She shared her fears about being a single parent in a foreign country, and her indecisiveness at the time about what she would do next.

Easter came, and Eva spent the day with us, enjoying my famous "Jack Daniels Roasted Ham".

(Eva, the day before Rachel was born)

She attributes that ham recipe to making her go into labor because sure enough, early the next morning, her contractions began. By late the next day, her beautiful, healthy daughter Rachel was born. About two months later, needing an income for her small family, Eva began to work as a nurse in the L&D department of the hospital she'd given birth in. She and Rachel spent many dinners and weekend barbecues with us.

(Eva and Rachel)

She made new friends and life was settling down for my Swedish friend, until the hospital experienced a budget crisis and decided to lay off registered nurses. Rachel was not yet 5 months old. And Eva, being one of the most recently hired, was one of over 100 nurses who lost their jobs.

Our clinic had recently lost an RN and I offered that job to Eva. She was a hard worker, and the physicians and patients appreciated her candor and sense of humor. Then the government stepped in, and in a most ungracious manner, decided that since Eva had been married to Jim for less than whatever specified time, she would need to return to her country (Sweden)...in essence, an order for deportation. By this time, Eva had decided to raise her American born daughter as an American. I'd climbed the food chain at the clinic to become Administrative Director, and did what any self respecting friend and employer would do... I called our Senator's office to ask for advice and intervention. Eventually Eva was able to remain in Alaska on a work visa as 'Nursing' was (and still is) listed as a difficult to fill profession. It took a number of letters written, phone calls, official forms filled out...but Eva was able to remain and work in the land she'd come to think of as her home.

(my DD and Eva's Rachel)

Our friendship continued over the next few years, but the frequency of time we spent together decreased to holidays,

(Eva, BFF MaryKay, Me, Jackie J)

then infrequent lunches or coffee. With job changes, and my return to graduate school, we eventually lost track of each other. We would hear of each other through mutual friends and our job circles continued to overlap. Eva eventually worked for the Municipality's STD Clinic, then as one of the RNs for the state's youth correctional facility. Sometimes we would see each other at continuing education programs. I thought of her once in a while, but until about three weeks ago, could honestly not say when I'd last seen her. I had no idea what was going on in her life. Early this month, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face in our hospital cafeteria. "Eva!", I shouted across the line of people. She turned and smiled broadly, rushed to give me a big hug. She had been shopping at our hospital gift shop. We are both lovers of Alaska Native artwork...another thing I'd forgotten over the years.

She told me some wonderful news and we were both a little amazed at how life can bring friends back full circle. She invited me to attend a special event today, and even though my schedule is usually written in stone six weeks in advance, coincidentally, today was already scheduled as a day off. Coincidence? Karma? Who knows? It really doesn't matter.

"You remember that you are the one that started this for me, don't you?" she asked. And I smiled, because honestly, I had forgotten so much in the intervening ten or twelve years.

Despite snow flurries and volcanic eruptions, I drove to the Federal Courthouse in Anchorage.

This morning with tears in my eyes, sentimental slob that I am, I watched my friend Eva,

along with 58 other individuals from 25 different countries take the Oath of Allegience to the United States of America. Her brilliant, beautiful daughter and several work friends were there also to support her. When Eva walked to the podium and said her name and the country she was from, she raised her certificate and said loudly.."My name is Eva -------, I was originally from Sweden, and today I am very proud to say I AM AN AMERICAN"!

First item on the agenda, after photos of course, was Registration to Vote!

After the ceremony, we had lunch at a delightful new restaurant, The Spenard Roadhouse. All American hamburgers, with homemade apple pie (from friend Kathy)for dessert!

Too often, we take our status as Americans for granted. I challenge any of you to attend a 'swearing in' ceremony. Reflecting upon the words of our Pledge of Allegiance, seeing the hope and pride in the eyes of new citizens, it is an amazing reminder of the good fortune to which we are born, the opportunity that is our birthright, the respect for ourselves and our neighbors to which we are beholden. It was a wonderful morning.

Let Freedom Ring!

A Sweater for Freja!

2009-03-25T09:15:00.002-08:00

It's been a while hasn't it? I've been working a lot (which is not an excuse)...only had 1 scheduled day off (last Saturday) over 12 days and more than a couple of those were 12+ hr days. Not complaining mind you, I normally have a ridiculously wonderful schedule. It's just been busy. Finally had a new carpenter come to do the finish work around the house (door and window trim, baseboards etc.) and a heating fellow come to put new covers on our 25 year old gas hot water baseboard heating system. All that's left is paint touchups and hanging the curtains in the dining area and repainting the entryway and hallway...I'm thinking "Marigold" yellow! An Alaskan girl can never have too much warm color going on. The painting and curtain hanging will likely happen over the weekend. I have an overnight L&D call tonight and then will be off until Monday! Hoorah!

I have been knitting, in fact, quite a lot of knitting. One raging success...one abysmal failure. We won't talk about the failur..it's sitting quietly in timeout awaiting its fate (although the decision has been made to send it to the frog pond..sigh..a full bag of yarn invested in that sweater...my own feeble design attempt..but the only failure is the failure to keep trying eh?) Let's move on shall we.

The successfully Finished Object is, of course, another Helena. This one is for dear friend Solveig's sister-in-law. Funny story...about 8 months ago Solveig asked me to teach her to knit as her brother's wife was newly pregnant and she wanted to be superaunt and knit the baby I sweater. A little yarn, a few needles, a book, some hands-on training...and well, a knitter was born....or so I thought. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, a frantic Solveig begged, pleaded, gave me "big eyes", promised me chocolate, pedicures, financial reward etc...if I could "just make a wonderful baby sweater for her before this Saturday..which is coincidentally the day of the baby shower. Loving Solveig dearly (and being a sucker for "big eyes") and having succumbed to the realization that my big sweater was doomed...I gladly complied.(Can you read "Suckah" on my forehead?)

So anyway, a week later, here is the finished Helena in all her glory.

The pattern: Helena from Knitty.com
The yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Superwash 100% merino in a lusciously soft dusty blue/green tone...depends on the light..but it's perfect for a baby of Scandinavian descent.
The needles: KPOs size 6, Addi Lace size 2, and yep, I broke another Brittany size 2 on those dang YO/K2Tog for the adorable picot edge hem. Save yourself the trouble..use metal.
Size: Used the numbers for newborn size but with the gauge of the heavy worsted 1824, it's closer to 6-9 month size.

Altogether a very satisfying knit. This is my go-to sweater for baby girls I think. The only modification was the closure, crochet'd double loop over 2 abolone shell buttons in lieu of the ties.

Solveig was thrilled. She will truly be super-auntie ;0

Until next time. Knit On!

Top Down Long Lacy Cardigan

2009-03-02T14:58:00.005-09:00

C'est fini! Started around January 23 or so....finished up the knitting last weekend but didn't have a chance to seam the sleeves or weave in ends, etc. until the past few days.

The pattern: Top Down Long Lacy Cardigan by SweaterBabe

Super easy. I modified it a tad to make it tunic length and 3/4 sleeves. I probably SHOULD have carried the lace pattern down further an inch or two into the nifty knitted in pockets, but I wasn't feeling compelled to rip out and reknit. Besides, it's just awfully cute the way it is. It fits well and feels great. (teehee...Miss Bella Blue is watching through the window and probably wondering about our crazy antics!)

and no, there are NO side seams (just seaming the length of the arms and the pit area) but I haven't steamed out the blocking lines yet...

The yarn: Elann.com Superwash Bamboo Cedar Shaded Solids (bag sale from June 08). I think I used about 16-17 skeins (held double throughout)

Gauge was slightly less than required but I made size Large and it fit just fine with a bit less ease than specified. Used my size 101/2 KPOs.

Re: the pattern. I really like the clarity of instructions and the stabilizing effect of the M1s (knitting into the stitch below) for the raglan increases. The yarn is super soft and drapey.

I'll be wearing this one for St. Patty's Day! And let's give the man a round of applause for the excellent photos!

Hola mi amigas!

2009-02-23T16:09:00.002-09:00

Well, we are finally back and the dust...er sand...has settled. Laundry has been caught up, the fridge is restocked with groceries...life is resuming it's normal pace, and I'm back to work tonight.

It was an incredible vacation.

Zihuatenejo is a small fishing village on Mexico's Grand Coast, south of Puerto Vallarta and just outside of Ixtapa. It is NOT a resort community. The Zihuatanejo bay is surrounded by 3 beaches, 2 of which are wonderful for swimming, snorkeling and all sorts of water activities. The weather was in the 80s and sunny every day. The people were engaging, friendly, helpful.

We rented a 2 bedroom 'villa'(like a condo) with kitchen and living room for our entire stay. It was on the 4th floor of the Villa El Morros and extremely reasonable. Comfortable lovely rooms with AC (when needed), ceiling fans, and the nicest staff I've ever met. A bonus was the daily housekeeping and towel origami art.

A new design every day we were there. Three connecting balconies, one off each bedroom and one off the living room gave a stunning, unparalleled view of the bay.

In the morning we awoke to the sounds of local roosters announcing a new day....at night we drifted off to the sounds of music drifting up from the town square. There were many other 'snowbirds' staying at the villas...some remaining as long as 2 or 3 months and they'd been coming to Villas El Morro for years. The swimming pool was cool, clean and also afforded a view of the bay.

Each morning, after breakfast, we would traipse down the 173 (yes we counted...each time) stone steps (quite a workout up and down 2 x each day!)

to the cobblestone road edged by the bay.

We said hello to the pelicans

and other waterbirds. We saw puffer fish and other types we couldn't identify in the waters. A short (less than 10 minutes) walk, "buenos dias" to the local fishermen and dive shop folks, and across the yellow bridge

into the beachfront shops and restaurants abutting the Playa Principal (beach)....but this is the beach where the fishermen bring their daily fresh catches...not a beach for swimming. We would then take a 5 minute water taxi across the bay to Playa Los Gatos, or walk a mile further down to Playa Ropa.

At Playa Los Gatos, we were made to feel like princesses.....restaurants had umbrella shaded lounge chairs lined up and waiting...we would pick a good spot, drop our things and head into the water to play.

Back at our chairs, friendly wait staff would bring beer, other adult beverages, and food menus. They were very attentive! You could get your hair braided into a million braids, have an hour long massage, rent snorkel equipment, get henna tattoos, be serenaded by strolling guitar players. We spent hours and hours of several vacation days there. The dollar exchange was very good, 14+ pesos per $1 american. We spent maybe $30/day total for all the food/drink and extra fun we could stand.

I felt badly at one level though. The economy has caused a 40% devaluation of the peso in the past year (i.e. one year ago the exchange rate was 10 pesos/1 american dollar) and has also impacted the sheer number of tourists passing through. Up until several months ago, cruise ships came through the town 2x weekly....

now it's down to once per week/ with far fewer passengers/tourists. The beaches were never crowded during our 10 day stay. And the prices have remained the same.....and lower...if you decline to purchase anything, vendors will follow you offering their wares for lower and lower, sometimes even as much as half their initial asking price. They are seriously hurting economically.

Another thing I was unaware of is that there is no free public school......we saw many private school kids in their different uniforms, but far more children not in school...and working. In fact, one day a petite girl, probably no more than 6 years old, made her way from beach chair to beach chair singing and dancing for whatever pesos people were willing to give her, while her mother and sister wandered the beach selling jewelry. It was a good life-lesson for my daughter. We also purposely drove through some areas not on the 'touristy path', where the working class people lived in rough shanties with pigs and chickens wandering in and out of homes. I think it was a good eye-opener for my privileged daughter to obtain a real world reality check.

The Mercado Centrale was our stop for fresh fruits, veggies, fish, meats, etc. We loaded a shopping bag every couple of days and made fresh guacamole with tortillas we watched being made...we also purchased vanilla beans, strong coffee and other traditional foods

Sometimes we would eat from sidewalk stands that catered to local workers. The food was amazing. So fresh, so delicious. I know I ate my weight in shrimp while there...barbecued shrimp, garlic shrimp, shrimp tacos, shrimp empanadas, coconut shrimp (aahh Lety's the best coconut shrimp ever ever ever...and I Don't like coconut shrimp...but this was divine!) Drank lots of cerveza (mostly Corona) and a couple or three margaritas......:)

The girl was able to go horseback riding on the beach at Playa Largo one day.

Think miles and miles of soft sandy beach...

it was glorious and she had a fabulous time.

We also did an amazing, once in a lifetime experience...we swam with dolphins.
yes. we did.

Now, I have to tell you, I have conflicting feelings about this. For one thing. I believe that dolphins are intelligent wild animals and should not be in captivity. period. However, the desire to have the experience of being in the water, touching and interacting with these creatures (who were extremely well cared for....and the numbers of people were highly regulated.....and strict rules about no lotions, sunscreens, perfumes, or jewelry so that the dolphins can remain safe and healthy)...well the opportunity over rode my hesitations.

I'll admit, for me, it was a very emotional experience. And these guys were so well trained. We had an hour or more in the water with them...and they did tricks with us....like letting us hold onto their flippers

and getting a 'belly ride' the length of the (very very long and 20 foot deep) pool...

and get this....the trainers asked us to lie flat on our stomachs in the water, legs slightly apart, lock our knees. Two dolphins came up under our feet and lifted us out of the water....pushing us the length of the pool (like circus performers standing up straddling two horses....only these were two dolphins and no reigns....) Like I said, it was a once in a lifetime experience. I only wish that they had given more education about the dolphins and their training etc......I'm sure many people feel the way I do about this. Again, they are amazing animals. This is the website for Delfiniti if you are interested in more info.

I read 4 books while there...Sarah's Key (which the girl also read and loved), Friday Night Knitting Club (total tearjerker), something else that was pretty forgettable...i can't even remember the name...and The Tea House Fire which was amazing and i highly recommend.

I did knit a tiny bit....a sock...which is at the toe. That's all. I napped, I sunned, I ate, I wandered. It was everything a vacation should be. I plan to return again and again as I'm able. Zihua is charming in its Mexican authenticity...no McDonalds, no WalMart, no Costco....just a beautiful place, with wonderful people. The perfect spot for a relaxing vacation.

Well, that's about enough for today....until next time...KNIT ON!

2009-02-09T08:05:00.004-09:00

Knitbud (and ubernurse!) Sarah...aka Evil Toad, had a brilliant idea recently. There are two nurses and two midwives (inc. me) with live in senior parents. She decided we should form a club and have dinner parties each month or so to get the seniors out and meeting other folks.....or at least let us feel like we're facilitating that sort of thing. Thus was born the S.P.A.H. group (Senior Parents At Home...or Senile Parents At Home...whichever is most appropro!)

Me and Grandma Clara.

Marlena, her mom Pam, Zelda's mom Dee, Zelda

The Scots (Sarah and her Dad...I forgot his name..how embarrassing...but they brought a six-pack of wine!)

We met last Thursday night at Marlena's home. She and her mom, Pam, fixed a wonderful roast Turkey with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy! Zelda's mom made a green-bean casserole and rolls. I brought a green salad with fresh spinach, dried cranberries, toasted almonds and feta, and the Scots brought wine and a yummy fruit salad with cookies and whipped cream for dessert.

We ALL had a grand time, and despite Grandma Clara's shyness, she is looking forward to helping me host the next dinner in March!

In Knitting news...i've about 3 inches of ribbing left on the superwash bamboo long and lacy cardi. Maybe it'll be finished before catching the plane tonight....

Plane tonight? Yes....The long awaited Mexican Vacay has arrived! Whoohoo! Just me and the girl, heading down to Zihuatenejo for the next ten days....lots of sun, lots of sand, lots of relaxation! The man has vowed to keep close tabs on the grannymeister and I trust him to do a great job! I have yet to figure out what knitting to take for the plane and the beach......but I have a few hours yet to narrow it down. I'm sure I'll have lots of pics and fun things to post when I return....until then....

KNIT ON!

Superwash Bamboo Take Three

2009-01-24T12:28:00.006-09:00

Last June, my #1 Favorite on-line yarn shop, Elann.com, had a bag sale of their Superwash Bamboo a nice worsted weight 65% washable wool/35% bamboo for a crazy cheap price. This is one of their stock yarns but a dye-lot that came out with a shaded or 'kettle-dyed' look to it. I purchased 2 bags of the Shaded Cedar

and one bag of the Shaded Claret. Gorgeous yarns. I started out by casting on for the February Lady Sweater

but ended up ripping out and going down so many needle sizes to get a fabric to my tastes for the garter yolk, that I eventually gave up and frogged the mess. That was "Take One".

I recently decided to join Joan's Fashionably Late KAL and re-started the FLS on appropriately sized needles ('5's for me for the yoke, 7s for the lace) omitted the YO increases, ommitted the buttonholes on purpose.

It's quite yummy...at least the yoke is quite yummy. I've knit, frogged, reknit, refrogged, the stupid gull-lace pattern 5 times, only making it past 2 full pattern repeats (and it's only a 4 row repeat, 2 of which are purl rows for the love of god) What gives. I can't freaking count. I don't know. So, naturally, it's in time-out for a while. That is "Take Two". And it is a wunnerful color! And I will get back to it when I'm over my fit of pique!

I needed something instantly gratifying, satisfying, something....and then the new free subscriber on-line email SweaterBabe pattern came out! The #74 Top-Down Long Lacy Cardigan. Whoo! Only free for 2 weeks, I quickly downloaded and printed it out. It was just what I needed. And the Superwash Bamboo, 2 full bags of Cedar, held double would be perfect! I swatched and swatched and wet and dried and found the best fabric on size 101/2s.

It's a roomy sweater and with my gauge calculations would make a size large come out just a few inches smaller which would be most flattering. I cast on and am loving the pattern/yarn matchup a lot.

I love the very explicit and clear instructions. I love the M1-R and M1-L that she uses for the raglan increases. They stabilize an area that tends to stretch out or feel less strong. Nice detail. I'm loving the color variations too and the sheen of the Superwash Bamboo. Let's see how this "Take Three" comes out. I'm hoping to finish up within the next 2 weeks!

Knit On!

Dry Jaime Bar 1981-2009

2009-01-22T09:56:00.010-09:00

We lost a friend yesterday. A registered Quarter-horse and dear old gentleman

Dry Jaime Bar was a champion barrel racer, an equestrian competitor, a gentle companion. He would have been 28 in March.

I am so sad for my girl. Dry was her second horse, acquired just a few months after horse #1 (Shorty) proved a bit green for her level of experience and riding at the time.. DD was just 9 years old when Dry came to live with us. He was a geriatric horse even then, but healthy and spirited.

A wonderful teacher for our horsecrazy preteen.

The girl rode him in 4H events

local parades, playdays... and became state youth champion barrel racer under his tutelage.

Upon retirement from racing (a couple of summers ago), he became a lesson horse for small children.

His gentle ways and excellent ground manners made him a perfect therapeutic riding horse as well.

He lived in our back yard, that friendly old man. He enjoyed playing with his best pal Shorty, and new friend Nacho.

He loved running and chasing at the horse park,

summer baths,

swimming in nearby lakes, and being ahead of the pack steeplechasing through the snow. He hung out at the lower corral gate by the street, hoping to beg apples, cookies, carrots, candy from passing neighbors and school children.

In fact, our next door neighbor would bring him fresh salads daily during the summer. I guess he was probably quite spoiled according to many horse people. But he deserved it.

This past fall, he'd had to have several teeth removed. He had difficulty chewing up hay so the girl took him buckets of hot mash a couple of times a day. He's had difficulty keeping weight on the past few winters.....and I think our weeks long extreme cold snap tipped the rest of the scales against him.

Yesterday, the girl went out in the morning and found him down. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to get him back to his feet. With the help of another horsey friend, she made him comfortable with straw packed under and around him. He had another big bucket of hot mash before our vet came. And a couple of double cheeseburgers with large fries courtesy of the teenagers. And chocolate peppermint kisses. Our wonderful vet scratched his head on that one and said it was one of the most loving and unique sendoffs he'd seen.

Dry Jaime Bar. 1981-2009. We'll miss you.

Here's Helena

2009-01-19T08:30:00.004-09:00

For those of you not on Ravelry, here at last is the HELENA I finished a few days ago.

This is a super easy top down knit. Very very quick knit. I think it took maybe 3-4 evenings. The yarn is mother-friendly Lion Cotton-Ease (50% cotton/50% acrylic) in a lovely dusty TerraCotta. The smallest size took less than 2 skeins. I love the new colors this comes in and have a small stash just for cute baby things. I used size 6 KPOs for the body, and size 2s for the edgings.

I must say I ADORE this picot hem on the bottom and sleeves. However, the K2Tog broke TWO, count em, TWO of my bamboo doublepoints on the sleeve hems. The picot hem gives such a finished and professional look!

I didn't care for the tie-front so I took another Raveler's idea and made a crochet double loop closure with shank buttons.

I used the numbers for the smallest size. This came out to fit about a 6-12 month old (depending on the size of the 6-12monther ;0)
It was a very satisfactory knit and I can see myself making this pattern again in the future.

KNIT ON!

Wacky Weather and Remodel Updates....

2009-01-16T09:17:00.009-09:00

For all you Lower 48 and International readers, I truly sympathize with the crazy cold temps and snowfall you've had the past few days. I know it hit you unprepared because it's not your norm. Here in Alaska, we expect, even greet, the challenges of winter with open arms. It's part of our Alaskan culture and identity. But we too have had crazy insanity with the weather the past few weeks.

We had a huge dump of snow right around Christmas, then record-breaking, metal breaking, bone chilling, energy bill raising cold spell. -20 to -40 at night, -10 to -20 daytime. For MORE THAN TWO WEEKS we did not get above ZERO. Then, 3 days ago, it started to warm up. And rain. And hit the high 30s low 40s. And the snow melted. And the ground was frozen. So there are feet of standing water over frozen ground ice. Everywhere. The highways are not so bad, but the neighborhoods are impassible for many. Especially those living on hills/mountains. Like us. Oh, and did I mention the hurricane force winds (70+ mph) that glossed all icy surfaces to skating rink smoothness. Our schools have been closed for three days now. They were not closed in the multiple days of -20, -30 temps. They are closed due to ice. The travel danger is too great. I could not make it out of my driveway. Hah, I could barely walk across my driveway/yard. DH and DD parked their trucks at the bottom of our street and walked/crawled up the 1/4 mile "S" curve to our driveway. From their they pulled themselves up with by their hands on the fence and landscape branches. This morning they walked down with crampons on. Thankfully, the sand truck came by a bit ago. And neighbor Paul who plows our driveway/parking area came by and sanded everything well. I got a bonus day off today. I feel badly about having my patients reschedule in clinic, but they don't need to be out in this mess either. I'm off til Monday now! Whoo! I'll play bloggy catch up since I'm feeling rambly and have a bit of extra time.

I finished Reynaldo's "Churro". I love this yarn! Needful Yarns Kaleidoscope purchased from elann.com. Washable wool. Sproingy and great coloring. I was s'posed to have lunch with him today but obviously will have to reschedule. I know he'll overlook my sucky round changes. You'd think by now I would've remembered to make that part be in the back when I positioned the ear flaps. Of course not. (slaps forehead). Maybe next time. I know this pattern is in Amy Singers Knit Wit, I don't have a linky for it right now, but seriously, I just do it from memory, top down, measure head for height, position ear flaps for front/back comfort.......

oh, and yes (bragging again) that is that new granite countertop in the background. So, some folks have kindly asked for a remodel update. Your patience is rewarded with a little photo tour today. It's not totally finished everywhere yet. Remodeling, I have found...is an evolutionary process. Once something new is in place, the surroundings look shabby in comparison and need a spruce up......so to begin, we'll go with the most complete and satisfactory part of the remodel to date, the kitchen...

You can look back at THIS POST for some of the before pics.

Here's where we are to date:

I love it. I love the double drawer dishwasher. So quiet and energy efficient. Love the farmhouse sink and the faucet. DH was afraid it would just get more piled up with dirty dishes but that hasn't been the case at all. And it's depth makes it very convenient for yarn craftiness and DD filling large water buckets for horses when the outside faucet froze up! I haven't yet gotten the cabinets full or totally organized as efficiently as I'd like. I have a piece of Raku pottery/artwork that I want to hang on the wall above the sink. We also need to touch up some of the paint that got dinged with the granite install, sand and restain the ceiling and beams where the pass-through kitchen wall came out, and remove and restain under the old lighting support braces. A weekend project.

Here's the dining room. It needs a bit more finish work but is essentially complete. (yes, I did get a new dining table and chairs....DD, known as "Jethrine" in some circles, accidently broke one of our old chairs from the old set. Sigh. And it was time to freshen up.

Again, paint touch-up, and finish trim around the windows...and a new overhead light and wall sconce. Just haven't found the right ones I like yet on that. Have FABULOUS new curtains though...I'll show you when that part's finished. Oh yeah, and have to put new covers over the baseboard heat elements (gas hot water baseboard heat).

The new hardwood flooring is just insanely beautiful. Here's a shot of the old floor (OK, it's my sealskin slippers but the floor is behind it)...

and the new.

This covers the kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway between the girls' rooms and the main bathroom. (i know, i know...nutz to have hardwood flooring in a bathroom, but the last hardwood floor there last 20+ years without much problem). Yes, I know Pearl needs a shavedown....it's just been too cold lately to do it...

We added energy saving window treatments in the lower living room windows. Expensive but Holy Cow they keep the living room much more comfortable...even with the extreme temps. Yes, these are daytime pics..around 11am..yes, it's our dark winter days...but we are gaining minutes of daylight every single day now...and I'll be in Mexico in less than a month. I digress again...We also redecorated with a comfortable dark chocolate easy care microsuede sectional. Very comfy and cozy for knitting, reading, napping, watching movies etc.......and we can chat and travel easily between kitchen and dining room. Love the fact that the island rolls! (no, that wasn't a scratch on the island earlier, just some camera artifact)

I still need new end/coffee tables and a different floor lamp but I'm pleased with the new table lamps and sofa pillows and such so far. We also need another occaisional chair/small armchair or something that Grandma Clara can sit in and get in and out of easily, so that's next on the agenda.

I'm binding off Helena as pics are loading up, then just to add the buttons and loops for closure. Maybe I'll add it later, or maybe I'll wait to post another day. This was long enough. So until next time....KNIT ON!

Midwife Musings.....

2009-01-06T16:54:00.002-09:00

I met the nicest couple having their first baby the other night.
They were in their early 20s. She was petite with huge dark eyes and beautiful full smile, he was tall and lanky, with hair drawn back into a black ponytail. 4 days past her due date, she'd arrived to the hospital in good, early, SPONTANEOUS labor. Sent to walk for a few hours, she made good progress and was admitted to L&D. Heploc started for the GroupB Strep antibiotics. Sore arm. Hate that. Into the jacuzzi with her...yes, you can be in the jacuzzi with your IV...aahhh, warm swirling waters, vasodilation....hmmm...the sore arm is now much better and isn't this jacuzzi the best thing for labor. Her light brown skin glows. Her eyes close with contractions. Her partner kneels over the tub, he is only focused on her. He tells her to breathe, to go limp, massages her hands, arms, back. He holds her and tells her how much he loves her. She says she has to push..no not yet..i can't stop she says...do this..i tell her "HOOOO...HOOOOO...HOOO..."blowing out hard and loud...she tries it, it works...for the next hour or so we hear them together...HOOOO..HHOOOO....HOOOO.HOOOO....their sounds rise and fall in a crescendo. they are loud and in sync and their noise mimics the start of this whole thing. we smile at the nurse's desk. A bit later, after some toilet time and slow dancing time...it's finally time. She easily delivers her more than 9 1/2 lb daughter, up onto her tummy and into her arms. Dad is ecstatic. He drops to his knees, hands raised, tears streaming. The pink chubby girl takes a wide eyed look around, then scrunches her face and screams her displeasure at this change of venue. Everyone beams. Everything works as it should and babe is happily on the breast minutes later. Seems it's been a while since I've had an unmedicated first-time mom. (Nothing wrong with that, i'm all about meds and epidurals and all and whatever it takes to have a positive, healthy, safe birth experience) Constant appropriate bedside support is a huge factor in helping moms through labor. Kudos to this brave strong young couple. They made my day.

Ooh Baby It's COLD Outside!

2009-01-05T10:31:00.002-09:00

Well I'm back. All the falderal and hoopla of the holidays is finally over. We had a lovely Christmas and I caught the first baby of 2009 for the city at 0028 on 1/1/09! Whoohoo! I've spent the last several days de-Christmasing and de-cluttering the house. Sent bags of clothing and clutter to the Salvation Army.

It has been COLDER than snot for the past week or so. Temps have dipped to -28 (yes that's a negative number!) and we've not risen above -7 in 5 days. It's been clear and sunny in the few hours of daylight we enjoy at this time of year. And we are gaining almost a minute of daylight every single day now!

First FO of 2009.....an alpaca hat for a sweet young man. Araucania Atacam in Blue Granite (a blue/grey variagated) knit on size 4s for a dense fabric. Very soft. Love this yarn. About 1 skein for an 8yr old boy, probably would need another half skein for a grownup man size. I made up the pattern as I went. Deep ribbing for folding up over ears, stockinette on the crown. bottom up.

Next up, and blocking as we speak...Helena from Knitty.com in one of my favorite mother friendly yarns...Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. Love this warm TerraCotta color. Pattern is as easy and cute as can be. Just need to hem and do the neck/front edging and then decide upon a closure. I'm thinking double loop button closure instead of the ties. We'll see. This is for the new daughter of one of our CMAs.

One the needles is YET ANOTHER HAT. My standard top down earflap "Churro" in Needful Yarns Kaleidoscope. I LOVE THIS YARN and seriously wish I'd purchased more instead of the few measly balls I picked up. It's superwash wool, cable construction. So soft. So sproingy. So washable! Don't mean to be a yarn-ho here or anything, but if anyone reading this has any extra Kaleidoscope that they won't be using...I'll buy it off of ya...I lurf it. This hat is a going away gift for one of my favorite male L&D nurses. He just finished his MS and took a job with the State. I'll miss you Reynaldo!

There are two bald eagles in the cottonwood tree behind my house this morning. Their feathers are all fluffed up and they look fat and sassy. It's so clear, so crisply cold. I'm staying warm inside doing laundry and reorganizing the stash. I have an overnighter on-call tonight so I'll try to get a nap this afternoon before going in.

In my neverending quest to abort the depression that comes with isolation and winter in Alaska...I joined a BUNCO group. It will start on Jan. 12th. I am SO excited. I was snubbed by the Bunco queen at an office I worked in years ago...it scarred me for life. So it was a total Sally Field ("you like me, you really like me") moment when I was invited. I'm also looking forward to a VACATION in February. Why is VACATION capitalized? Because it's a real, honest to gosh, going away VACATION. I'm taking DD to Zihuatenejo, Mexico for 10 days in February. We. Cannot. Wait. Just us two girls, doing the beach. oh yeah! More on these developments later.

I'm not going to try promising to post more often. It's frankly just not in me right now. But as new FOs come off the needles, you'll continue to see just what it is that the MIDWIFE KNITS! Until next time....knit on!

Holiday Happenings

2008-12-18T18:01:00.003-09:00

I can't believe I had all last week off and didn't blog at all. What DID I do? Hmmm....

Put up and decorated the Christmas tree and many other homey holiday touches....

Made homemade marshmallows..so yummy! and supervised the girls (DD, her BF and the little Grandma Clara) in the making of truffles and chocolate dipped pretzels! I'm thinking Grandma Clara and DDs BF have been sampling...enlarge the pics and I believe you will see chocosmudges around their mouths! so busted!

I'm obviously not the only one enjoying the new kitchen.

And I finally finished, blocked, and wove ends on all those Maine Morning Mitts for my midwife colleagues. Thirteen pairs in all. All from stash. Distributed by elf today. I heard they were "warmly" received.

What else..hmmm....mostly just sorting through and getting rid of or repurposing boxes of mostly things I don't need/want anymore from pre-remodel packing up. A bit of shopping, a bit of cooking, a bit of scheduled vehicle maintenance, you know...life. I will likely not post again until after the holidays, so if I don't, here's wishing you and your families a very healthy and happy holiday season. Knit on.

Holiday Knitting To Date

2008-12-02T09:29:00.003-09:00

We just won't talk about November. At all.
So moving right along....there has been lots of holiday knitting. I decided to make those super cute, uber fast Maine Morning Mitts for all my colleague midwives this year. After the first 4 pairs though...boring..snooze..snort...i swear i'm knitting these puppies in my sleep. 9 pairs down, 4 more pairs to go...here's a shot of the first 6 pair. And peeps...all knit from stash, leftovers, single balls I'd bought on a whim...i feel like a machine with these mitts!

Clockwise we have Berroco Foliage, Needful Yarns Joy, SWS, leftover Big Kureyon from the Tilted Duster, ooold leftover Nashua Handknits Woolly Stripes Tweed, and yet more Berrocco Foliage.

I also finished a nice rustic scarf from 3 skeins of Queensland Collection Himalayas. This is a thick/thin spun single ply. I have about 20 more skeins of this in various colors and am having the darndest time finding the right projects for it, but I think this pattern did it merit.

Lastly, another Thorpe from yet more of the Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande (handpaint and solid) I love this stuff. It just feels so creamy ;0

Continuing with the mitts, should have the rest finished up by the weekend and will post the remainder then. I have TWELVE days off beginning Friday! Whoohoo! Plan to do holiday decorating, baking/freezing, and crafting/shopping during that time.

Not much else to say today. Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy (it's zero here today!) Knit On!

Happy Birthday Evil Toad ;0

2008-10-31T07:17:00.004-08:00

The Berroco Memoirs Lace Scarf was gifted to friend Sara for her birthday a couple of nights ago. (Sara is EvilToad on Ravelry and my fav Scottish L&D nurse).

3 skeins Berroco Memoirs a 50/50 mohair/wool 2-ply
Pattern "Cream of Spinach" one-row lace pattern free from Ravelry
Size 10 1/2 needles.
Blocked out to 16" x 64"
Supah-fast easy knit with a lotta bang for the effort.

She lurfed it.

And Other Fancy Stuff...

2008-10-25T13:48:00.007-08:00

Gosh, has it really been almost three weeks? I have been working like a fiend. Lots of work days, few days off and the days off are for sleep and chores and such. Winter has hit. There are 4-6 inches of SNOW covering everything. It's about 21 degrees outside at my house, damp, with cloudy skies. It will likely get up to the high 20s today but we have a chance of more snow.

I also have had an annoying cold that has now progressed to laryngitis. I slept most of the day yesterday and am taking it easy over the weekend in hopes of getting my voice back before hospital Monday.

I've been knitting quite a bit lately. I have finished (except for one last seam that will be sewn this afternoon...and deciding upon which of the 5 sets of buttons I should use to accent) my FABULOUS Debbie Bliss Drop Collar Cable Jacket. I am in hot, panting, love with it.

Here are the button options...your comments would be appreciated.

#1-Dark Shell

#2-Hand Carved Bone

#3-Handwound Same Yarn (my fav's so far)

#4-Light Shell

#5-Silver metal Celtic Knot
Hmmm....I cannot find the pic..you'll have to imagine it for yourself.

At this point, I'm leaning toward the hand-wound same yarn buttons. I think none of the others, except maybe the dark shell, work as well.

This will be the last "for me" project for a while. Gotta keep moving on the handknit giftiness. Just hats, scarves, and mitts this year. No big projects. I've already knocked out two in the past week or so.

First... finished, blocked and now awaiting the drying of a simple lace scarf of Berroco Memoires a nice 2-ply wool/mohair fun yarn from a recent Elann.com stash enhancement. It will be a lovely holiday gift for a friend.

I'm just an earflap away from finishishing another Thorpe. Like the last Thorpe, this one also knit from Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande. Only it's the handpaint version this time. I love the way this stuff feels. It always makes me smile when I brush it against my face. This too will be a holiday gift for a friend.

Speaking of friends, I feel so fortunate and grateful to have them in my life. People I can count on. People I trust. And who feel the same about me. I've been focusing the past several months on reconnecting and developing relationships and different personal roles outside of mother and caregiver. It's not easy. I feel somewhat socially inept and awkward. I don't small talk well anymore outside of the professional or the one-on-one environment. I don't really know how to keep light and interesting conversation rolling with strangers anymore, especially in groups. I think I need a social trainer! Luckily, my friends haven't really cared about that. They just seem happy and enthusiastic to have me along and accept me for the nerdy gal that I am. BFF MaryKay has done that for years. Last weekend, work friends of 7 years and more (Holy Cow and I'm JUST NOW beginning to socialize with these treasures?) invited me to attend a local celebration sponsored by Anchorage's Maharlika, Inc.

This delicious prime-rib dinner and dance is a scholarship fundraiser for Anchorage's Philippino community. It was held downtown, at the Egan Convention Center and FORMAL attire was requested. Now, Alaska formal is generally "a bit" different than formal in the lower 48, requiring only the lack of denim, tennis shoes, or Sorrell's. I had been warned, however, that this was an event that strongly encouraged jacket/tie for the men, and sequins, heels and cleavage for the women.

Me and The Man, dressed up again!

Mary T, CNM, Heather RN, me, Solveig RN, JeanMarie RN, Beth RN and Majarlika Board Member. Mary W. RN and longtime neighbor.

As advertised, there indeed was a great deal of sparkle and cleavage. Delicious dinner, fun dancing, a lovely evening out.

I will finish up Thorpe tonight, then pull another random pattern from the gift queue to cast on. Tomorrow, I may try to post up some FO shots. I have a date with BFF MaryKay, in the afternoon, for pedicures. I love to knit while getting a pedicure! Just have to be careful to keep the yarncake/ball under control. It tends to want to jump into the warm swirling waters!

Well, that's all I have for today. Until next time.....
Cyberhug or phycical hug....send out the good stuff to YOUR FRIENDS...and KNIT ON!

Beer Train! All Aboard!

2008-10-05T13:30:00.005-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, the man and I boarded the 2008 Great Alaska Beer Train! Whoo! Too much fun. Sponsored by the Alaska Railroad and the Glacier Brewhouse, "Beer Train" is an annual Oktoberfest celebration for several Alaskans.

Jeff, JeanMarie and Tom in silhouette in front of Turnagain Arm.

We had to board the 6-car train beginning at 2:45pm for a 4:00pm departure. Once aboard, we traversed through passenger, bar, bistro and dining cars to the atrium passenger car in the back. Fellow midwives and L&D nurses saved us seats so we could enjoy the trip together.

Midwife Zelda and husband Dave are experienced Beer Train participants.

Karen and Marlena's husband.

Sassy Nurse Heather who made quite a name for herself on last year's Beer Train!

Each passenger was given a menu describing the beers and accompanying food courses, along with 6 tickets to exchange, 1 per beer. You didn't have to stick with the progression and were truly unlimited in the number of beers and food servings you could obtain.

Solveig and Jeff sample the first beer offering.

Each table was equipped with a Quart size Chinese Take Out bucket of mixed wrapped candies. Railroad waitstaff zoomed back and forth to provide appetizers, water, coffee, and of course...beer.

The train pulled out of the Anchorage depot promptly at 4:00pm. We traveled along the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet all the way to Portage and had lovely views of the inlet, mountains and forest along the way. (As you are probably noticing from the backgrounds!)

The turnaround point was just past Spencer Glacier, of which we had a lovely view from the train.

The beers included the following:
Bavarian Heveweizen (not my fav...too light and fruity for my tastes!): a wheat beer with banana and clove aromas.

Rasberry Wheat (ditto): a red colored unfiltered wheat beer that was VERY fruity.

Blonde Ale: light malt and hop flavors/aromas. enh.

These were served with assorted German Style sausages, meats, cheeses, crackers, bread, gravlax, smoked salmon, delicious large caper berries and marinated veggies. Yum.

Kimmy's partner Shane shows Midwife Stephanie the Beer Train ropes.

The "Bocktoberfest" beer was a delicious Jim Beam barrel aged malty lager with flavors of vanilla, bourbon and chocolate. I loved this! It really had a lot of tooth to it!. It was served with Beer Braised Bratworst sausages over white beans with horseradish and chives, with a caramelized onion brown mustard sauce.

Again. Totally yummy!

The Brewhouse's IPA (India Pale Ale) was hoppy and bitter with a fruity aroma...again..not so happy with the fruityness of the beers. just my preference. This was paired with Smoked Birch Glazed Quail with mushroom cracker stuffing, sea-salt roasted peanut potatoes and Craft Brew Jus. I've never had quail before and frankly trying to slip the meat off those teeny tiny little bones was just all a bit too dainty for me. I had a second helping of the brat instead ;0

JeanMarie and Tom enjoyed the little birds quite well!

The dessert course (Glacier Brewhouse's "World Famous" Bread Pudding with Yukon Jack sauce. Swooon!) was paired with my absolute favorite libation...Oatmeal Stout! The full bodied black ale has a rich roasted caramel and malt flavor. so very yummy. I think I had 3...or maybe 4 of these throughout the trip. Very mellow return ride yes indeed.

Me and The Man doing a little Beer Train.

Kimmy & Heather enjoying Beer Train camaraderie!

As you can see, good times were had by all. I will definately be doing the Beer Train again next year!

Oh, and yes, I did knit on the train, almost finishing the back of the Drop Collar Cable Sweater. Should finish that project this week. Hope you are all enjoying your Octoberfest weekend. Knit On!

Saturday, Mount Baldy!

2008-09-28T08:35:00.011-08:00

Saturday was one of those days that reminds you why you love living in Alaska. The temps were in the high 40s to mid 50s, the sky was an incredible blue, the sun was shining. And best of all, BFF MaryKay and I both had the day off with no plans or other obligations. We decided to hike to the summit of 3000 ft.Mount Baldy.

This view of Mt. Baldy is from the Old Glenn Highway in Eagle River.

We drove to the access road, little dog in tow, and proceeded up the VERY STEEP trail.

Did I mention that the trail to the summit climbs over 1600 vertical feet in approx. one mile? It's been years since we did this hike. I truly had forgotten how tiring going uphill was!

We picked blueberries and crowberries along the way. Sweet and juicy. How kind of nature to provide us a nutritious energy snack.

We took a break about halfway up. Sat, drank water, enjoyed the views.

We watched small aircraft buzz along below us, and a parasailor, also enjoying the fabulous weather!

Spirit (aka 'little dog') encouraged MaryKay to proceed onwards to the top!

We were surrounded with amazing views of Eagle River, Ft. Richardson Army Base, The Knik Arm of Cook Inlet, Sleeping Lady (Mt. Susitna) and the Alaska Range across the water.

There were definately times we had to stop, breathe hard, rest. We essentially just ran out of the pep. But, middle-age wilderness wonderwomen that we are, we slogged through. We persevered.

We were embraced by the beauty of Alaska! How could we not keep going?

An hour and a half or so of hiking/climbing, and yes sometimes even scrambling on all fours (my hands, knees and butt were covered in mud!)we reached the summit!

Spirit really wanted off-leash, but there were too many "accidents waiting to happen" for me to feel comfortable with that. He had to settle for his picture at the summit!

We hiked along the ridge for a bit,

until a cloud covered the sun. The temp immediately plummeted to below freezing! Going down was somewhat easier than going up, however, the seat of my pants will likely never be the same LOL!

We had a most excellent time and were very proud of ourselves!

Do you see our happy grins!

I must admit, that little 3-4 hour hike totally kicked our butts for the day. I picked up a pizza to bake at home afterwards. The man, the grannymeister and I enjoyed pizza, salad and beer (root beer for Grandma Clara) and after a nice long hot shower, I was in asleep by 9:30! Strangely, I'm not THAT sore today, just a few twinges in my ankles, thighs and buttocks here and there, but overall, I feel great! It was a fantastic time with one of my best friends. Today looks like another glorious day. Thinking about heading out to another little hike. Mebbe. It's just too pretty to stay inside. Hope it's beautiful wherever you are. Have a great day and KNIT ON with your bad selves!

Back to the Blog...

2008-09-26T11:35:00.005-08:00

Hello, hello...is anyone there? Sorry to be away so long. I've been working like a fiend with weird back to back and skip a day night calls along with interspersed clinic days. It gets your circadians out of whack! Also, I'm working very hard on "getting out more" with friends and attending to other interests. Winter is just around the corner here....but I still have new blooms daily in the garden.

I just love this freshly opened dewy pink daylily.

In the knit, I'm still working on the Debbie Bliss Drop Collar Cable Jacket in the Rowan Classic Yarns Soft Tweed. I love the feel of this stuff. It's an easy cable knit and really should be finished but..time has been at a premium. Two sleeves and about 6 more inches of back than you see here. Interestingly, knitblogger Philigry , is making the same jacket in the same yarn in the same color. She's almost finished with hers and it has me excited to finish this project!

Don't mind the decaying daisy on the sleeve, how i missed that in the viewfinder I'll never know!

As many of you have shared, parenting a teen who's turning into an adult really forces you to examine your own personal goals, values and interests again. And adjust as needed. It's a time to reconnect with your partner. While the man and I are pretty good at connecting, after almost two decades sometimes we get lazy. Sunday,though, we dressed up and attended the wedding of one of my good work friends, Rose. It was held on the lake at the Elks Club in Palmer. I made 4 dozen deviled eggs. Everyone brought food, there was dancing, and of course, the bride was stunning. A typical rainy but beautiful fall day in Alaska. I don't have permission to show pics of the bride, but the man and I cleaned up pretty well so I'll share this self portrait.

We are enjoying a cool and rainy fall. No frost yet, but high 30s at night and mid 40s to low 50s daytime. The leaves have turned an incandescent shade of gold. This is my favorite time of year. My backyard mountain (Bear Mountain) never disappoints.

no matter if it's sunny,

or cloudy, you can always count on the mountains. My backyard view reminds me of an old methodist hymn that went something like..."I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, to the hi.ii.ii..llls...for that is where my strength co..oo..mmmes from...
anway, that's what always runs through my mind in a pure clean singing voice when I'm hanging out in the yard and happen to look up.

I'll wrap this post up with a little garden cat action. Butt (short for Butterscotch) the Ear-Sucking Cat,

and his best bud Bella Blue (dont'cha just love that alliteration? hah!) have fun times hanging out in the autumn splendor.

I have grocery shopping with Grandma Clara this afternoon, and am planning to kick back and watch the first season of Dexter, do some knitting, and read a little more of the fun Stan Nichols trilogy "Orcs". Next couple weeks' schedule is much kinder, so I'll be back in touch soon. Until then, Knit On!

Drop Collar Cable Jacket

2008-09-13T10:16:00.006-08:00

Yesterday was PFD day here in Alaska. The 2K+ dividend was combined with our good governor's energy rebate of $1200. Essentially, every Alaskan (read man,woman and child) recieved a little more than $3200. For a family of 6...well, you can do the math. Most of ours will be reinvested in the remodel. I did splurge just a bit on some Rowan Classic Yarns Soft Tweed in Bramble and a few bags of Araucania Atacama hand-dyed alpaca from Elann.com last week. The alpaca is slated for a Mr. Greenjeans, a shawl, and perhaps a few pairs of felted clogs for holiday giving. The Soft Tweed however, was destined from the get-go to be the Drop Collar Cable Jacket from the new Debbie Bliss knitting magazine. I'm loving how quickly and intuitively the cable pattern knits up. I did a sleeve as my gauge swatch and love the fabric. Should be a cheerful wardrobe pick-me-up over the winter months.

Can't believe how fast this month is flying by! Will try to catch up later this week. Until then. Knit on!

Waiting Patiently

2008-09-02T10:46:00.004-08:00

Today is my first day off to myself in almost three weeks. Or, at least, it would have been. The flooring will be delivered this morning. Meaning, I need to clear a large area so over 700sf (20some odd boxes) of hardwood can be stacked and made ready for our carpenter. And, of course, due to the lovely and intelligent Gov. Palin's nomination for Vice President....the man will be busy covering every aspect of her life until November. Good for our personal economy......but having him gone a lot can be challenging.

The other problem today is our septic system. Due to the unusually high rainfall and lack of warmth to evaporate same, our ground is saturated. And our septic system, which we almost religiously have pumped every year, but has been known to go almost three years without complaint, is causing 'greywater' backups and leakage under the sinks of our downstairs (garden level) office/little kitchen/laundry room area. Having mopped up two unpleasant messes in the past 48 hours, and now with buckets under drain pipes to alleviate same, I wait for the septic pump folks. There are many clever names for our septic companies...one company has a fleet of trucks called "Turdinator I, Turdinator II, etc."...another company has "The Super Duper Pooper Pumper". I just call JR's. They're close by and reliable and they'll be here this afternoon. Until then, no laundry, no dishwasher, no bath/shower etc." Guess I'll fix a cup of tea and finish up my Broadripple socks. And here's a little garden tour while we wait. Enjoy and Knit On.

A new variety of Astilbe for this year's garden.....

The rose colored Astilbe I planted a couple of years ago...it has spread beautifully and provides a tall feathery accent to the fall garden...

These white and blue campanulas have also proliferated in the past 2 years....

And of course, the showstoppers of the late summer garden...a full three weeks behind schedule, my stargazer Lilies.....

Grannies Gone Wild!

2008-08-30T09:04:00.011-08:00

As you might remember from a previous post, Grandma Clara's baby sister Louise (age 82!) and niece decided to pay the grannymeister a visit to celebrate her birthday. Louise and Kathy arrived late last Friday night and left the following Wednesday night. The five days in between were jam-packed with touristy action. I thought you might be interested in a little travelogue.

Saturday morning, we went to breakfast and then headed south towards Portage to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We drove through the park and were able to get up-close and personal with a variety of wildlife including.....

Quiviut on the hoof (aka Muskox)

Caribou (my favorite game meat ever!)

And local celebrity, Jimmy the (Grizzly) Bear and his brothers.

We then headed back towards town and stopped in Girdwood. We took the tram up to the top of Mount Alyeska and visited the Round House Museum before having a nice lunch of reindeer hotdogs and clam chowder. Several hanging glaciers are visible from both the Round House as well as the restaurant. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car during that escapade so you'll just have to make do with the linkage provided ;0

Driving back home, we stopped at the Eagle River Nature Center. Everyone had a good time looking through the telescope trying to spot sheep, bear and mountain men.

We decided on a little adventure and hiked/wheeled down one of the trails to the salmon spawning overlook where we spent a good hour or more watching fish fight to swim upstream, rolling and congregating in the still pools.

It was a beautiful and peaceful evening, but the hike/wheel back was essentially uphill all the way and tired everyone out for the evening!

We decided on a more civilized day for Sunday and after breakfast visited the Anchorage Museum of History and Art where we strolled around for 2 or 3 hours, had coffee and forgot to take pictures. Next was a stop at Grandma Clara's favorite venue...Alaska Wildberry Products...to shop for wonderful chocolates and see the "Chocolate Waterfall". Everyone certainly enjoyed THAT stop ;0

On Monday, we drove to Seward and enjoyed the Alaska Sealife Center. It's one of my and Grandma Clara's favorite places. We enjoy learning about the seabirds, fish, and marine mammals of Resurrection Bay.

There are Octopus (octopi?)

Pettable Starfish....

Friendly puffins...

and other seabirds...

and the favorites including Harbor Seals....

and Woody the Sea Lion!

After the Sealife Center, we drove up the road a ways and visited Exit Glacier. The Okies were impressed with the river of ice ;0

Tuesday was spent touring the Mat-Su valley and visiting quietly at home. Louise and Kathy wanted to have their pictures taken in our winter coats (Laura Wright Parkies).

As I had to work an overnight that night, Grandma Clara entertained our guests by showing off some of her current cardworks in progress and reminiscing about the 'good old days'.

Russ and Zoe took everyone out to the Haute Quarter Grill for seafood and steaks. I slept late the following day (Wednesday) then we went out to Lake Hood to watch the floatplanes take off. We had a late lunch of Shrimp Tomato Bisque Soup with Rolls and Salmon Spread, and said our goodbyes at the airport.

It was a rather whirlwind trip, but I think everyone had a good time. I know Grandma Clara really enjoyed visiting with her family.
And so ends this episode of "Grannies Gone Wild"....stay tuned, you never know what those girls will get into next! Until next time....Knit On!

New Knitting & A Big Thank You

2008-08-27T13:37:00.003-08:00

Thank you all so much for your kind words of comfort in the loss of my beloved 'Lulu'. As with all changes, we are slowly adjusting to a new 'normal' for our family. I was so surprised at the sheer number of comments and the outpouring of support. You are all wonderful. If I haven't PM'd you my thanks yet, know that I will eventually catch up.

I have been doing a little knitting lately. No brainer knitting is about all I can handle right now. I finished the first of a pair of Broadripple socks in Elann.com's Esprit. Knitting them up just like the pattern on size 3 dpns. I'm liking them just fine. Will probably gift this pair to one of my favorite L&D nurses who is leaving to take a position in Hawaii (to be near her AF man)soon. Hope to have these finished up by the weekend.

Have had company the past week. Grandma Clara's sister and niece came to town and we've been doing all the touristy things. I'll try to post some of those pics later in the week.

Again, thanks so much for your thoughts and well wishes. Until next time, knit on.

Goodbye Sweet Girl

2008-08-21T10:59:00.005-08:00

Tallulah Bean

11/19/99-8/21/08 You were well loved, and will be sorely missed. You left a giant-sized pawprint right on my heart. There's way too much empty space in my house and yard now without you. Knowing when to let go is the hardest part...but you told me it was time. Goodbye my sweet girl.

The Blue Backpack...mine.

2008-08-20T18:38:00.003-08:00

I can't make it work the regular way for some reason. Click on the link and watch a little real Alaska for your very own self. DH shot the video clip. And no one got hurt.

Car keys. In the blue backpack. No knitting. No food. Keys.

Hard Rock

2008-08-16T09:40:00.003-08:00

The granite was installed on Tuesday :) DH was home and emailed pics to me at work during the process. He's such a tease that way. I came home and did a happy dance. I couldn't stop caressing the rock. If my camera was better, I could give you awesome closeups of the intricacies...and the veins of sparkling amethysts that weave through the rock. Pictures do not do it justice. The appliances are sitting in boxes in the living room. We are waiting for the flooring installation (week after next) to move those in. I found brushed nickel switchplates (yay!) And found my lighting. All of it I think. But I want to talk with a lighting person to make sure I have enough ambient vs task lighting. (sheesh...the things you learn when you start googling around)..this entire process has been a learning experience. The end of this part of Phase 1 is in sight. Oh...and the granite? One seam only. One. I tell you, this rock gets me hot!
HARD ROCK DESIGNS in Wasilla. Over 200 different types of granite...in 8 x 12 foot slabs...walking through there was like visiting an art gallery. Great folks to work with!

I'll mebbe show you some yarn porn later...but here's some kitchen porn for you while you wait.

Have a great knitterly day!

Garden, Knitting & Remodel

2008-08-07T19:50:00.005-08:00

I have no clever title. What you read is what you get. Finally. The sun was out. The sky was blue. I almost didn't recognize what it was. My garden went freaking nuts. The Delphinium bloomed. The weeds and grass must've grown a foot in the past 24 hours. But it's not bad. Sort of a cross between cottage and shabby chic. If the weather holds, the deck gets painted this weekend.

I went back to work Sunday night. Had 3 yummy babies. All nice families. All nice births. Tuesday was our day-long every 2 year ALL STAFF MEETING. Almost 1500 employees in my company. Imagine my joy. Blessedly, I had the perfect project started and was able to almost finish the back. Below is an earlier pic:

It will be the Triangle Cable T from S.Charles Collezione Spring/Summer 2003 Brochure. The yarn is Berocco Denim Silk purchased from Elann.com in August 05. (Gotta love Elann's on-line shopping history to really put your stash marinade time in perspective!) The color is Cayenne and is pretty true in the pic. The cables start out 10 stitches wide and decrease to 1 stitch over several rows. Really neat effect I think and it will have the same treatment at the V-neckline and center outer short sleeve.

That's all the knitting. Stop now if you don't want remodel updates.

The cabinets are IN!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!

Here's another view. You may admire my farmhouse style apron front sink. And wait'll you see the new faucet. Swoon. I will, however, be replacing the stark white outlet covers and switchplates for brushed stainless to coordinate with the appliances. I'm all about the matchy-matchy that way.

Close-up of the custom island. Guess what. It's on rolling casters. So I can reposition it at will for various and sundry reasons. And will have about 10" overhang on the other side just the perfect height for short barstools. The fact that it rolls is amazingly convenient. I love this feature.

Yesterday, the granite folks measured and templated. They will be here to install next week. Gulp. Tomorrow morning, the flooring guy comes to pre-install prep. I cannot believe it. So far, once things got started, they've gone remarkably smoothly. And so far, I'm thrilled with the way it's coming together.

Knit On!

....Something Old, Something New

2008-08-02T11:00:00.009-08:00

At the end of summer last year, I started the KPS NeckDown Wrap Cardigan. I was at one of the girl's horsey events in Palmer. I realized too late that I'd forgotten to bring a bag of knitting! While things were quiet I zipped over to Fantastic Fibers and purchased the pattern, needles, and enough Cascade Quatro to do the job. Easy pattern. Seamless. Plain stockinette. The only fun was the shaping and the cool edging. It...was...boring. very very very boring. And although I had completed the front and back and started on a sleeve (which incidently changed gauge a bit when changing from circ needle to double-points for the sleeves), my eye was caught by something flashier, lacier, quicker to knit, whatever...and the KPS has languished in the time-out corner these past several months. Happily, during this little 2 week staycay, I cleaned out my WIP basket and decided it was time to finish this cardi. So I did! Just in time for a fall wardrobe pick-me-up.

And now here's the finished project......

Such a simple and classic knit. Close-up of the details....

Butt the cat also wanted in the photo shoot..

Specs:
Pattern-Knitting Pure & Simple KPS Neck-Down Wrap Cardigan
Yarn-Cascade Quatro-100% wool
Needles-AddiTurbo size 8s, KPO size 8s, Brittany doublepoints size 8s

This is truly no-brainer TV knitting at its finest.

I bet you thought this was a clever something old/something new thing huh...not so..

The sweater was something old...but this is something NEW!

With the high price of gas (>$4.50) and my 70 mile RT commute, and a newly licensed driver in the household, we bit the bullet and got a new car. It's a 2009 Subaru Forester. Sunroof. Seatwarmers. 5 speed manual transmission. Front/side/curtain airbags. Best safety rating from Consumer Reports. Oh yeah...I'm loving it too.
Knit on.

Happy 87th Birthday Grandma Clara!

2008-07-27T18:28:00.002-08:00

We enjoyed a nice outing with dinner at Chili's, then came home for ice cream and cake (homemade German Chocolate cake per Grandma Clara's request!) Her present from the family was a Kodak digital frame that we loaded with over 200 pictures from events over the past five or six years. I think she will enjoy looking at this for hours. Later this week, we have a trip to Michael's Crafts planned. Her baby sister (age 80) and niece will be coming to visit at the end of August. She is really looking forward to that!

Be sure and leave her a Birthday greeting in the comments. She loves getting cards and email.

A Brief Check-In

2008-07-26T18:33:00.003-08:00

I've taken the past week off and will have next week off as well in order to catch up on some of the remodel tasks we're doing ourselves, along with a little recreation time.

A few days ago I cleaned out the UFO basket with the motto of "Frog or Finish". Anything that was marginal or had a major error was frogged with glee. As you can see, I often try to color coordinate my projects with the local fauna :) There goes the Roped Shell.

The subfloor in the kitchen and dining room has been rebuilt, the drywall was hung and mudded and textured. On Friday, I primed and on Saturday, the man and I painted. The color is called "Tomato Bisque" and yep, it's a rich creamy red orange. We have enough windows in the dining room and living room to keep it looking light and open. The cabinets will be cherry and the granite countertops will be black and silver with bold waves of rust throughout. The new appliances are GE Profile series in brushed stainless. The lighting will also be brushed stainless.

I keep my knitting close by to decrease the stress of this major (expensive$$$$ which kills me because you KNOW how cheap I am!) remodel. One UFO which I decided to keep was the KPS neck down wrap cardigan I started last August. It was such a boring knit that I only got the front and back and part of one arm started before ditching it. However, I love the color and finished another entire sleeve while waiting for the primer to dry. Looks like I may have the other sleeve and maybe even the belt ties finished before tomorrow.

OK, I know you are just dying to see what's in the box the sweater is resting on. Yep, the cabinets were delivered...they'll be installed Wednesday after the electrician finishes on Tuesday! Here's a little sneaky peak of the gorgeous cherry! I'm getting excited....can you tell! I may even be able to cook in my kitchen by the end of August!

Off to the downstairs little kitchen to bake Grandma Clara a German Chocolate Cake. Today is her 87th birthday. We'll be heading out to dinner later on. I'll post more and pics and all later today or early tomorrow. Until then, knit on!

Camo Streakers Shrug

2008-07-21T18:12:00.003-08:00

Hmmmmmmm......I've never worn a 'shrug' before, so I'm not sure if I like this yet.

(or maybe I just don't like how lumpy I look in the picture LOL!)

I really like the way the fabric knitted up. The Manos softened wonderfully with a Eucalon bath and blocking.

Even with abbreviating the sleeve lenth of the pattern...the sleeves are loooong. I also don't care for how the seam runs down the inside of my arm...it kind of bugged me when I wore this for an hour or two. The sleeves also seem to have a tendency to twist around on my arms and I really DON'T like that.

I do like the lacy sleeve pattern. Very gracefuly and pretty.

Verdict's still out. I will reblock it and try to shrink the sleeve length with a blow dryer....I'll give it a chance and try wearing it a couple of times before the final decision.

Now it's back to the February Lady Sweater. She's been sadly neglected the past several days. Knit on.

Good Morning from Bear Mountain.....

2008-07-12T11:16:00.006-08:00

Yes, that's really the name of the small mountain I live on. We're on a ridge with great sunlight (uh..yeah..when it's not raining..or overcast..like it's been for the last 2 to 3 months...ugh..) And aptly named. We do have bears strolling the neighborhood and through our yards from time to time. There is a 400+ lb black bear in my neighbors yard even as I type. I'm not going to try to get close enough for pics. I have other pics of other bears in our yard from over the years. We do have a neighborhood telephone alert system which is nice. Lots of kids playing outside, lots of pets, small livestock, etc. I'm hoping he/she rambles on back up the mountain before becoming a threat/nuisance and getting shot. It's kind of like the weather..you live here..you live with the the weather..and the wildlife. But I digress...

(ETA: Yes, thank you, I DID just now notice that I hadn't removed the blue masking tape from my bedroom window after the paint job last month. LOL! How tacky! But how so darn typical of me!)

It's a nice morning here. The girl's off to a barrel race playday. She was in another out of town rodeo last weekend and did really well for herself, winning a 3rd and a 1st in 2D competition in the adult divisions. She's really interested in leaving state
with her horse(s)...yep..she bought another horse..3 total now. Name's Nacho...pics to come)and competing against 'real' cowgirls. She'd like a job as a ranchhand next summer in the lower 48. We'll see. Wanna see something cool and inspirational? Link this and play the video clip. A friend sent it to me and I think it kind of helped me understand my horsey girl just a little bit more.

But you're not here for me just going on and on...you want the knitting! The Streaker's Shrug is just almost finished. I shortened the arms due to the natural growth of the Manos and comments from others on Ravelry...and because I HATE sleeves over my hands..and because I knew I was going to be cutting it very close yarnwise.

Here's the almost finished product...

Here's where I ran out of the Manos....15 stitches before the end of the last row..and the bind-off. I used Elann.com's Chunky superwash Peruvian Highland Wool. It was the best match in complementary color/texture of anything in stash.

I decided to use it for the lace sleeves too...pretty. :)

I should finish it today during Grandma Clara's hair appt. Then she and I might head off to the BearPaw Festival in Eagle River. I'll take pics if we go.

Oh, and just a cute shot of how well miss Bella Blue has integrated/ingratiated herself into the fam.....here she is with the ferocious and protective Tucker (DH's Vizsla)..slow supervised integration with the rest of the animals worked so very very well for us.

Lastly, I'll see you out with another garden view. Despite the cool overcast skies, the garden is a blooming riot of color. I must divide lots and lots this fall I think...

I just love Lady's Mantle in the mornings...don't you?

Well, must now get out of jammies and get ready to roll with the grannymeister. Have a great knitterly day!

If I wear this in the woods..can you see me?

2008-07-06T12:26:00.002-08:00

The rest of my DC souvenir yarn (purchased at the fabulous Woolwinders Yarn Salon in Rockville!) lay mocking me from my overflowing bedroom desk. It kept saying.."Lisa..Honey...what were you thinking...only 4 skeins...in what was called "Jungle" but in effect looks like Camo".....well, crap. I don't remember what I was thinking, thank you very much. It may have been the merlot. So I decided to stay up late and look through the (disorganized) stash of magazines I've collected (piled up in dangerous stacks around the house) over the years. For some reason, The Streakers Shrug called out to me and in a "woman of action" moment, I cast on. The Manos is not very soft (I'm hopin' it softens with eucalon and blocking) but I enjoy the changing colors and textures of this no-brainer fun knit.

See, I told you...camo!

I'm going to do the lace sleeves in some stashed Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran in a deep olive...I think this will look great over a black tee or turtleneck this fall/winter.

(Hey, it's in the 50's and rainy here.. I can knit with wool...in front of my woodstove even...with a cuppa great tea....because that's what Sundays are for in Alaska!)

Knit On!

Finally, A Finished Object

2008-07-05T17:39:00.002-08:00

But it's not what you expected! I started the "Prismatic" Scarf with my DC souvenir yarn, yummy Manos 70% wool, 30% silk juicy colorful goodness. But the pattern seriously ate the yarn up! I would've needed another skein to get a scarf the length I like to wear, and since I only had 2 skeins...I researched a few lace patterns on Ravelry. In the end, I decided on Falling Waters, an easily memorized lace that broke up some of the color pools quite well! I ended up using about 1 and 3/4 skeins and the scarf blocked out to 7" x 76". Soft but with the great drape and sheen of the silk!

Here's a close-up view of the pattern.....

The February Lady Sweater had to be ripped back about 8 rows. I decided I just didn't like the YO increases at all, so am back now to the last row before the first set of increases and will do a standard M1 (KFB) for the garter section. Otherwise, all's happy in knitland.

Knit on!

More Summer Fun

2008-06-29T09:26:00.003-08:00

Like everyone else in Ravel land, I have become entranced...no, obsessed..with the February Lady Sweater. I tried casting on from stash in 3 different yarns...to no avail. After 3 sets of 6" of garter stitch...I was not happy. I decided to order some old standby elann.com Peruvian Highland Wool in one of my favorite colors "Fiddlehead Green". Logging on, I noted a bag sail of "Superwash Bamboo Shaded Solids" (sold out or I'd link you...70% superwash worsted and 30% bamboo" in a kettled-dyed look shaded solid (my favorite flavor of solid color thank you!). The price was fabulous at $14.85 for a 10-ball bag. And the colors...a gorgeous "Cedar" and "Claret" caught my eye. They arrived on Friday and were cast-on at hospital Friday night. Look at the subtle color changes, admire the silk-like sheen of the bamboo!!!!

The yarn is soooo soft..I'm totally in love with the knitting of it....a nicely, smooth twisted 4-ply with the sproingyness of wool, the slightly more fluid drape/hand of bamboo, and much much softer against the skin than I'd anticipated. Like merino soft. Yes, the Cedar cried out to be February Lady Sweater.

Still waiting for summer weather here...it's been mostly cool (50's...which is why I can work with wool...I saw you southern/western folks cringing!)
a little rainy, cloudy to partly cloudy. I like it but wish for a touch more sun for the sake of Vitamin D and mood and all. All the gardens are lagging about three weeks behind normal. It's effected several vendors at the local farmer's markets. As a gardener, I don't mind too much and am optimistic that this will just segueway into a longer cool autumn (equates with longer growing season here) instead of an earlier winter. Here are a few shots from my garden as of today.

The Siberian Irises are spectacular this year (year 4), as are the Trollius (year 3).

This bed is so far behind...and it gets as much sunlight as the others...

one thing I've noted lately, as my child begins her launch into the bigger world...my role as a parent is shrinking acutely. it truly is a sense of loss...the question of "what do i do now" looms. it's a transition for everyone, and even though it's still quite a ways off before the cords of dependence are severed, they are certainly stretched. it can be quite uncomfortable at times.

how do i change my focus? i have hobbies (ok..obsessions)..a rewarding career...a good relationship...I am blessed beyond my wildest hopes frankly.....and yet I feel unsettled. Have you experienced this? How did you get through it? What did you do?

Knit on.

Summer Fun

2008-06-25T06:28:00.003-08:00

Project: My Prismatic Scarf
Yarn: Manos-DK, 70% wool/30% silk (DC Souvenir yarn from WoolWinders)
Needles: KPOs #7s

Love the yarn, soft,supple, glowing color from the silk...the pattern...enh...i'll go another couple inches and decide if it's a keeper or not...

My knitting Mojo has turned into knitting NoGo.....every project I've started in the past month has been a disaster, frogged, etc. I started the February Lady Sweater 3 times in 3 different yarns and got about 6" into it and bleah...to the frog pond. But since I am ever so determined....I ordered more yarn (isn't that the cure for everything?) and will try a do-over with an elann.com special offer (sold out now or I'd link you!) of wool/bamboo worsted. It should be here tomorrow or Friday (Day Off Whoo!) and I'll try yet again. Until then, you just get scarves and squares.

Me and BFF MK on another "Big Walk", Summer Solstice (yep, it was pouring!). But isn't my neighbor's Mock Orange Tree a stunner!

Kitty Fun

2008-06-22T10:34:00.002-08:00

Bella Blue and I were blog-surfin' this morning. We linked around a bit and found THIS

As you can see, she was very insistent that we enter the WHISKERS ON WEDNESDAY contest!

You can too! If you do, tell 'em we sent you over. And give a little credit to DarcyKnottyKnitter too! Have a great knitterly or kittenly day!

Remodel Hell

2008-06-20T16:33:00.003-08:00

It's been a while since i posted. Lots of stuff happening these days. Alaska summer (or at least what passes for same up here). It's been very cool and overcast mostly. A few sunny days here and there. The garden is trucking along...love perennials.

I miss my kitchen/dining room/living room. I really hate living in chaos. I know it will be worth it and gorgeous when it's done, but gee, once things are torn out, you find more problems that need to be solved...such as...rewiring to code....subfloor support beams nailed in 1/2" lower than 2 other rooms..so i guess it really wasn't earthquake/ground shift or whatever that caused our dining room to not be level with everything else on the first floor. Our house was built early 80s.....economic boom times here...not a lot of building code enforcement. sigh. oh well it will be done correctly now. just more delays in the final project.

But...I've been moaning about it for so long, I guess I'll share my misery.

Here is my galley kitchen with pass-through to the living room in the before pics. Nice , workable kitchen but the tile floor was cracked the length of the kitchen (definate earthquake related) and the counter tiles were cracked, some broken, grout coming out in little chunks all over, a bear to keep clean. The cabinets were OK but again, old, coming apart in places, a drawer door was gone, appliances were functional but not efficient...

We tore out the wall/passthrough between kitchen and living room, and will replace the tile kitchen floors and the old hardwood floors (remnant small pieces) in the living room with wide red oak plank flooring across the entire open sweep of kitchen/dining/living room hallway. Much more open and spacious...much cleaner feeling (if you don't count all the crap shoved into the living room right now..yuck!)

It will come to pass...it's just my patience that is getting a good workout.

Hope you and yours are enjoying the season. More soon.

Secret Project Teaser

2008-06-20T16:09:00.004-08:00

Elann.com's wonderful peruvian Highland Wool in Harvest Heather.
Size 6 KPO's
Candle Flames pattern from Barbara Walker's Treasury (the blue book).
Secret project.

Stay tuned.

The Best of Times .....

2008-06-07T08:20:00.010-08:00

I know...I know...bragging is so tacky. But I just can't help myself. And I really wanted to post these pics and memories before I forget too much. Part of my job includes periodic visits to assigned outlying villages. My villages are Mentasta and Chistochina which have road access between Glenallen and Tok in the Upper Copper River Valley...at the edge of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

On an overcast spring morning (AFTER SCORING ELTON JOHN CONCERT TICKETSS!) I loaded up the Dodge pickup with the "Clinic in a Box" (one large suitcase full of disposable gloves, speculums, pap medium, assorted tools for obtaining various bodily fluids, doppler, drape sheets, gauze pads, IUDs, Implanons, etc...One tacklebox with prepacked antiobiotics, birth control pills, various hormones and other crap.), one large backpack with jeans/sox/underwear/tshirts/sweatshirt/hygiene products), 2 cases of bottled water, a small cooler with fruit/yogurt/cheese, large picnic basket of nonperishible foods and gourmet chocolates and utensils, large knitting bag with 2 projects, magazines and books, a map and 20 music CDs...filled up with gas (OWWWWCH!) and hit the road.

A long bit of the drive had me tracking the Matanuska Glacier...the edge of the sheet of ice you see there is 50ft tall in many places...gorgeous even with the overhanging clouds. Not much traffic heading north....summer places were just beginning to open for the season. Lots of sprucing up. On one roadside lake i noticed 2 large white duckbutts sticking up from the water. As I got closer, they righted themselves and I realized they were wild swans. I saw several more along the way. Gorgeous. I would've stopped and gotten pics but the lighting was just crappy. Also saw a 2 moose and a fox
along the way. Aahhh...I love Alaska.

I reached my destination for the night, the Hart D Ranch, a long time lodge and now B&B and RV camp. Located in Slana, it's operated for over 50 years by the lovely and gracious artist and
hunting guide ------- DeHart. This lovely little gem is really an oddity for the area. Art gallery, B&B, RV park, former hunting guide..wow. And it's for sale due to health/life/no family etc. Right on the edge of the Wrangell-St. Elias Park, it would be a great opportunity for the right person.

The next morning I drove another 20+ miles up the highway to the turn off for Mentasta......the tiny sign pointed to a narrow road..Mentasta 7 miles...

about 7 miles in...

Mentasta has quite a history of independence from the Federal Government and is one of the few remaining sovereign nations within the U.S. Reading these words causes an emotional response in many people..and controversy will always surround many issues of financial assistance, politics, and resource management. Amazing microcosm within America that few people are aware of. Check out the links for more info if you are interested.

Here is the building that houses the Clinic/Tribal Council Office/Community Center.

The clinic is staffed full-time by Nora, the Community Health Aide. She has worked there for over 7 years andis working on getting a larger, better equipped, stand alone clinic for the village. If she takes after her mom, notorious subsistence rights activist Katie John, she probably will get her way!

Overall the clinics both went very well. There are no microscopes, so you pretty much have to treat itches and drips empirically. Luckily Flagyl and Diflucan combined will cure a multitude of ills. And so will Zithromax and Rocephin. I also saw a lot of older postmenopause women. Which I've gotten out of the habit of seeing frankly in the last 4 or 5 months. Since we've been shortstaffed, management decided to bump the yearly exam patients over to Family Med Clinic. Set up LOTS of mammograms and colonoscopies. Did lots and lots of diabetes follow up and teaching and referrals. But all this means a trip to Anchorage for at least a couple or 3 days. Enough said.

I hit a few snow flurries in Chickaloon on the way back, but still a scenic and peaceful 5 hour drive. Had the weekend to catch up on laundry, but have been just crazy busy ever since!

I did finish weaving ends in on the Forest Canopy Shawl. And did catch up with my BFF MaryKay (mmmmwwwaaaahhh! Love you sweetie!) It was her birthday gift. She liked it very much I think!

On Friday night, May...., the man and I went to the Talkeetna Lodge for another fabulous "Wine Dinner"....mmmmmmm....6 course gourmet dinner.....7 lovely different wines to try....interesting and fun conversation with acquaintences old and new...and a nice hotel room with the husband I adore.

Have had LOTS of babies lately....

The remodel work at home is slow. The main floor of my house is gutted to the wall studs and subflooring. The dust is miserable. I have no idea where many of our belongings are. Cabinets should be going in next week or the week after. Floor should be releveled the week after that. The good news.....GRANITE counter tops. Yeah, changed my mind from the quartz composite after looking at over 170 different 8'x10' polished pieces of different types of granite at our local valley. This stuff looks like art. It took my breath away...swirls of deepest rust, charcoal, steel gray...and look, see those sparkling crystals...a half inch thick vein of amethysts running the length of the piece...stunning. I'll post pics maybe next week....

Oh...and I painted the exterior of my house over Memorial Day Weekend and the following few days! Whoohoo! Our house rises 3 stories on a very hilly lot. I have painted it with only an extension ladder in the past. Twice. But now I am older and much more fearful of breaking a bone. So...we rented...a BOOM LIFT! four wheel drive with a cherry picker basket...the man and i drove that thing around for 4 days. What a hoot!...Sadly, when I was at work one day...the man had a little run in with the back corner of our deck. We planned to paint the deck this weekend...but he'll be doing some board sawing and hammering for a day or so before we'll be ready to tackle that project.....

The Elton John concert last Friday night was INCREDIBLE. It was everything you could have hoped for. No opening act. No backup band. Just Elton and his piano. For over 2 hours straight. He was the consummate professional. Standing and bowing and waving to the audience. Taking sips of water between songs. His voice and music rang true even with the marginal acoustics of the Sullivan Arena. I was in awe. He opened with "Your Song" and crossed the decades with hits including "Crocodile Rock", "Benny and the Jets", "Rocket Man", "Candle in the Wind" and so many many many more. The tickets were well worth the money.

If you made it this far, you can see why I haven't posted much lately! I've hardly even knit much the past few weeks. Right now, in my WIP basket, there are the following items...

1) Soleil...almost finished but thinking about the frog pond...unless this softens up with blocking...i'm not going to like it.
2) Rippled Cardigan....Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece...the back is finished...not sure if I like it well enough to go on to the fronts. enh...but love the yarn.
3) Roped Shell cover from IWK Summer 08...in Elann.com's Luna. Love it. Finished the cable bottom and now through the first pattern repeat....oh please let this work...it's stunning and I LOVE the Luna...

So i will close for now. I plan to spend the rest of the day weeding in the perennial beds. I did make up the window boxes with pretty annuals. Due to the unusually cool weather we are having, few things have bloomed yet. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and getting what you want out of your life right now....may it also be your "best of times"! Knit on!

All The Trees Were Having Sex........

2008-05-12T07:07:00.007-08:00

making it really hard for me to breathe. I'd forgotten about the pollen in DC at this time of year, and my allergies were really acting up!

I just returned from the DC area after attending the "Invitational Gathering on North American Indigenous Birthing and Midwifery" sponsored by the Indian Health Service and Health Canada. Approximately 70 midwives from across Canada, the US, and Mexico attended this groundbreaking event. The purpose of our meeting was to share information about our specific programs and practices and to brainstorm ways to return
birth to rural communities. Here in Alaska, as well as on many rural reservations and in rural Canada and Mexico, women must travel hundreds of miles from their families at approximately 36-37 weeks pregnant and wait up to a month or longer to deliver in a hospital setting. The reason for this is that there are no providers of obstetric or midwifery care in their home communities. These women are mostly very low risk. Their absence places a huge strain on their families as they are often not able to bring their other children, their partners must continue to work, and safe childcare is difficult to come by. Loneliness and worry cause additional stress to these women, and many mourn the loss of their children being born 'on their own land'...i.e...'all of my parents and grandparents have been born in Barrow but now my children must be born in Anchorage'. 'We no longer have our roots'..'How can we know where we are going if we don't know where we are from'. This sense of loss and displacement were a theme throughout the meeting. Model programs from Canada (the Nunavik model, the Nunavut model, and the Six Nations Birthing Center) demonstrated successful ways of providing these necessary services as well as training more indigenous midwives. We are now charged with taking up the baton and translating this to a workable model for the Alaska and other US Indian Country communities.

Other speakers at our meeting included Robbie Davis-Floyd (who I've had the privilege to hear speak on 2 other occaisions!) She is such a visionary and her description of "Post-Modern Midwifery in the Age of Technocracy" was very compelling. I was also privileged to hear again one of the women who prompted my initial foray into Midwifery, Ina May Gaskin.

(Yep! Look it's me and Ina May!)

I was incredibly honored to be invited to speak at this meeting. My presentation was well received and garnered several comments and questions afterwards. I truly felt that I was walking amongst the giants of midwifery.

During this program, Rita Pitka Blumenstein (A Tribal Healer and Midwife from Alaska and a woman who I am very honored to be friends with!), Martha Koneak Greig (Inuit traditional midwife and developer of many successful maternal child health programs across Canada) and Beatrice Long Visitor-Holy Dancer (Oglala Lakota midwife and healer and also one of the Thirteen Grandmothers) were honored by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian for their work in women's health and midwifery. It was a beautiful ceremony with drumming and singing and it literally sent chills up and down my spine. The honorees were given beautiful Pendleton blankets along with engraved placques.

After the ceremony Rita (who is also one of the Thirteen Grandmothers) wanted to go out for a lobster dinner so 6 of us piled into a cab and went to the Old Ebbitts Grill where we had a delicious dinner and were entertained quite well by our handsome young waiter. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday as well!

Our meeting was capped on the Thursday with a round table discussion on 'Women's Ways of Knowing: Lessons from Indigenous Midwifery Traditions' again at the National Museum of the American Indian. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this incredible museum, I would urge you all to go and spend a day. It is a wonderful peek into the people and cultures and beliefs of our native ancestors. And the building itself is an architectural masterpiece.

There were only a few hours of knitting during this trip. I was able to take the Metro and a short shuttle to within a half mile of WoolWinders in Rockville, MD. Luckily I went on Thursday evening, the store's knit&w(h)ine night! Within 5 minutes of entering the store (whilst perusing the large selection of Colinette and Malabrigo) Jackie the owner offered me a glass of merlot...I said 'heck yeah, who in their right mind would turn down a glass of wine?" to which she replied "my sentiments exactly, honey, you're gonna fit right in here!" After making a few purchases of mmmmMalabrigo and a Dale pattern booklet, I settled right in and knitted and chatted with the regulars. I made quite a bit of progress on Soleil in a straw colored silk/viscose blend (Katia's 'Fanny'). Three hours and many laughs later, Jackie dropped me off right at the metro.

I was back at home late on Friday. I just have to show you the beautiful sign Grandma Clara made to welcome me home!

Isn't that the sweetest thing you ever saw!

I've spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry, catching 3 new babies (overnight call Saturday night/Sunday morning), and packing for my next trip to leave for the villages of Mentasta and Chistochina this afternoon. Right now, I'm waiting for 10am when the 2nd round of Elton John tickets go on sale. This is Elton's first concert in Alaska and as the 8,000 tickets for the original concert on May 28th were sold out in 53 minutes, he has generously added a second concert on May 30th. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get on board this time! The last 'Big Name' concert (of my generation anyway) was Rod Stewart...over 10 years ago! The man and I are working 2 computers and 2 telephones to try for tickets. Wish me luck!

ETA: WE GOT 'EM! Whoohoo! Elton John Tickets for May 30th! I. AM. SO. STOKED!!!!

I'll be out of touch again now for another week. Don't think there will be easy internet access out in the village. However, the slower pace will certainly enhance the knitting time ahead so look for another couple of FOs next weekend. Until then blogbuddies.....

Knit On!

Forest Canopy is Blocking

2008-05-03T17:48:00.002-08:00

But first, a word from our sponsor...

Isn't she sweet? And yes, so spoiled! She's allowed to sit on the man's computer desk..and yes..she plays with his mouse.

Here is the blocked out Forest Canopy (Susan P. Lawrence pattern) in all it's stretched out glory. Wet blocked, she's measuring 100" wingspan and 44" from neck to bottom point.

Another shot before she took her dunk. Look at how those colors glow in the sunshine.

Packing like a mad woman. Catching a plane at the buttcrack of dawn for our nation's capitol. Will try to check in from time to time next week, but if you don't see me around...don't worry! Until next time...KNIT ON!

Prom Pics

2008-04-30T09:00:00.003-08:00

Otherwise known as "how to made a barrel racin', horse lovin' tomboy look like a lady!"

Prom was last Friday night for the girl. She went with a group of friends and didn't decide on going until just a few days beforehand. Luckily we had foofy dresses from balls and banquets past. One of her friend's sister does hair, and the girl got her very first 'updo'.

Look at that cascading mass......

Can't tell here if she's secretly happy about the hair or just annoyed at the whole process.....

The end product....two beautiful horsey girls...my girl's in black! They look so young and yet so very grownup at the same time!

Kelsey's (in blue) parents drove them to dinner, dance and picked them up afterwards (during our record breaking 22" spring snowstorm). Good times were had by all!

MAKE. IT. STOP!

2008-04-25T19:41:00.003-08:00

I felt so productive yesterday. Cleaned out over half the perennial beds, saw lots of green growing things poking their little leaves out. This morning, though, the sky was overcast. I left for work around 10:30ish to start seeing patients around 12:00. There were a few little 'flurries'....I wouldn't even acknowledge it as snow.
Sadly though, 5 hours and 16 patients later...this is what I saw when I left the office......
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This is my truck...that I had to dig out.....

And this is my garden...you saw the pics yesterday...see where I left the rake and the fertilizer watering can...

uh huh...I am SO OVER winter. I just want to cry.

Whassup?

2008-04-24T18:52:00.004-08:00

I took a day of personal leave this week to haul the Grannymeister around for her prosthodontics appts. (denture realignment) and to make sure the corporation doesn't start cashing out my leave. Hate that. With taxes it really is so very not worth it. I accrue 5 hrs. paid leave each week now. How crazy is that? Seriously I could just work 35 hr weeks from now on out and get full salary..or..as I've tried to schedule it, 1a week off out of every 2 months...but sometimes it's nice just to have the extra time. I've had 3 straight days off in a row, I have a half day of clinic tomorrow, then an overnight L&D as midwife du jour (or nuit as it were) then back to 2 full clinic days and 2 L&Ds next week.

How did I spend my time other than with the Grannymeister? Weeeellll...I've worked on and frogged a few rows of the Forest Canopy.

Gosh I love this yarn, so very very autumnal!

I worked on Haiku in Plymouth Jellybean for Miss Kate's 3rd birthday. (Kate is the daughter of one of my backup OBs. Despite all efforts, she just happened to be born by C-Section on MY birthday...so she's my forever birthday buddy. Easy pattern and the Jellybean is fun to work with. Being 3yrs old...pinkandpurple is her favorite color. And she LOVES to wear sweaters.

I decided to try something new and purchased a new knitting book, needles, and yarn
(hey it's sock yarn so it doesn't count..right?)

I watched "Juno" with DD. A really lovely movie about a pragmatic pregnant teen. If you have a teen at home, I encourage you to watch it with them...and discuss!

I meandered outside a bit and cleaned out one of the perennial beds. Can you believe how much greenery is showing after just 48 hrs of warm(er) weather? I wore SHORTS and SANDALS today (hey, it was in the high 50s!)

For comparison, here's the same bulb from yesterday 24 hrs after the last shot! Yeah, we're full daylight until around 10pm now.

I finished reading "Someone Knows My Name" by Lawrence Hill. Excellent read. Highly recommend it to anyone.

DH has PROM tomorrow night. OMG! Emergency mission to Fred Meyers for pink sparkly eyeshadow and charcoal sparkly eyeshadow and pink iridescent nail polish. I drew the line at haircolor though...she's only a sophomore and her last dye job (rich dark auburn) still looks fine. She's going with a group of horsey friends. Her first prom...I'm so verklempt!

Gratuitous Bella Blue photo from today. Hey Minnie...Siamese are notoriously doglike. She plays fetch. She carries her toys around in her mouth. She is constantly following me or the girl around.

And lastly, here's darling old girl Tallula! I never can take a good picture of her but I guess all the photo gods were smiling today.

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful support and comments from post before last. I've replied to some of you individually, but remember, I have no social skills cuz I was raised by wolves and all. So even if you don't get a personal message back from me, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate and HEART you all! Well, it's just about time for dinner. Tonight I made lemon-garlic turkey tenderloin with pea salad and cantaloupe slices on the side.

Until next time...Knit On!

Spring has Sprung in Alaska!

2008-04-23T18:45:00.002-08:00

Gratuitous kitten photo to start with though....just cuz she's so very photogenic. I have NOTHING to show in the knitting dept. today. Still slogging through the last bit on the Forest Canopy Shawl. Hope to finish tonight and block tomorrow. I will definately be gifting this one to my good friend MK for her upcoming birthday!

The conference last Friday went well. I did feel somewhat disgruntled though. During my opening speech and the speaker introductions and somewhere between the techy troubleshooting stuff, I looked out into the audience and saw LOTS of knitting going on...and because I was so dang busy...was able to knit not one stitch myself. Oh well. Soooon though, very very sooon, I'll have big blocks of knitting time.

The weather has been stellar the past few days. It hit 60 degrees on my deck today...57 degrees per the bank thermometer in town....gorgeous blue skies...lots and lots of sunshine. I can feel my poor Vitamin D depleted body soaking in the rays to make more of this vital hormone/vitamin ;0 aaaahhhh! And look, in the garden....the BULBS (and other things) are bursting through everywhere!

But along with leaves and greenery...the rapid snowmelt brings MUDSEASON! THIS

is my driveway today...talk about messy...I'll be throwing straw down to soak up the water/mudbog over the next few days.

I'm on day 2 of my 3 in a row days off (yay!) laundry is caught up....grocery shopping is done. Tomorrow, clean out the flower beds.

Here's another uber cute pic today of the rapidly growing Miss Bella Blue. She is such a character!

Until next time...Knit happy!

Is it just me.....Long Boring Meandering

2008-04-16T09:16:00.007-08:00

Or is everyone feeling totally in a crappy mood these days? I'm being polite in public but honestly i want to drop the 'f-bomb' with every other word right now. grrrrr...

1) I am feeling bored with blogging right now. I wrote a post a week ago, or rather, started a post a week ago...but EVEN I got bored reading it!

2) I want the romance back....the excitement of waiting for those comments after unfurling a new project for display..or the commiseration from all the knitbuds when good yarn goes horribly wrong. What happened? Was it Ravelry? I admit, I've been cheating around on this blog. I make comments in the groups i'm in...check new patterns, etc. It's exciting over there. There are NEW PATTERNS! And old patterns done in new yarns...and yarns I have that had no purpose, or had been depurposed now had hope and inspiration going for them. And the new faces and new "friends" from all over the world holy cow...and their pictures...and projects..and stashes and blogs...No wonder I've spent so much time away.

Yet, here is my own coming home sweet loyal blog. Taking whatever pictures and tidbits of life thrown her way. Demanding little in return. Tour of the sidebar, I read the Knitbuds and make a few comments here and again. I stop by my first regular pusher..Elann.com...lurk in the chatroom, make an occaissional comment..and then sneak off into the night..back to the siren that is Ravelry.

Not to mention other distractions.

3) Last Thursday night in L&D I had 8 babies during my 12hr (extended to 14 1/2 hr just to finish all the paperwork) overnight call. I caught 7 of them myself...the first two while another went to C-Section.

The C-Section was a first time mom who'd pushed for 3 hrs. Baby was direct OP (facing mom's pubic bone instead of the normal facing mom's bottom position). Most of the time these babies turn during pushing. Lots of times they are born face-up without difficulty..(except the dreaded back labor). Sometimes we midwives or docs can 'spin' the baby with position changes and manual pressure upwards on baby's head. And then again, sometimes it just doesn't work and it's time to say 'when' before baby gets punky.

The rest were easy normal uncomplicated deliveries. Two women were complete upon arrival in triage. In fact, we had to close one of the inner triage doors and just catch a quickie in the private triage room. Nice busy evening. I was very sore and tired for the next few days.

Had another lovely day with a 'Hypnobirthing' first timer who I'd seen in clinic occaisionally. Gorgeous spirit renewing birth.

I am so fortunate to be able to make my living from one of my passions. And to recognize my need to 'write a bit' which is sometimes my blogging, to sort out the stressors and emotions and put things back into perspective.

4) The weather in Anchorage has been miserable. We have had record late snowfall. So freaking depressing. In fact last night...we got SIX MORE INCHES of snow at my house...after just fighting through ALMOST A FOOT OF NEW SNOW last week. The sun has peaked out twice with brightness and melting warmth...and THEN EVERYTHING FREEZES again overnight. Sometimes I lose my patience with the place I love. Guess it's just like some of those times in married life.

5) Speaking of which. Bets termed DH "Dead Man Walking". Why? do you ask. Remember my Bed and Breakfast pullover. Finally finished up less than a month or so ago AFTER 2 YEARS AS A WIP. Gorgeous, well fitting, perfect color, cabley goodness. Yes, that one.
Helpful dear that he is....accidently....washed it with red towels. lots of 'em. in hot water. Gone is the gorgeous stitch definition...flat and subtle bumps where exuberent cables used to play. Just an FYI, elann.com's Sierra Aran felts very very well. The sweater would fit a six year old...if a six year old would wear 3/8" thick felt that can stand up by itself.

Yes. There were tears. Yes. Mean things spewed from my mouth. High drama at the midwife's house.

Maybe later I'll cut it up and sew up a nice felted bag out of it and wear it all the time or use it for a knitting bag or something just as a nice reminder. There will be retail therapy for this one. Oh yeah.

6) Teen angst. Gag. Demon child/Angel child. I love her, it's motherhood. Not the job of your dreams but I think you just have to savor the sometimes few and far between good bits at certain points and know that in a day/week/month/year or two the lightbulb will go on and the person you know love admire respect and see on occaission is still there and will ultimately return fulltime. And sometimes you just have to smile over gritted teeth. I'm lucky. No 'real problems'. But gosh can't they just tear your heart up sometimes! Makes me regret all over again some of the things I did when I was her age...not realizing how worried and helpless my own mom must have felt.

7) Our annual AK Chapter of the ACNM annual education conference is this Friday. I've been on the planning committee for this for the past 4 years. This year it was myself and 2 other women..that's it. And honestly...the amazing Sarah T, CNM was the driving force behind assuring everything was done. I still have to drop off 2 of the speaker's vested interest forms to the Nurse's Association office to finalize the number of CEUs we'll receive. I'm still waiting for 5 out of the 6 speaker's notes/slides for the syllabus that I need to drop off and have copied and comb or spiral bound tonight to pick up tomorrow. I need to pick up speaker honorarium and gift cards. And candies for the snack bowls on the tables. And water bottles. And flowers for the podium and sign in tables. And confirm the technology list with the conference facility. And pick up the door prizes. And make sure Yolanda brings posters and tickets to sell for our sponsored showing of "The Business of Being Born" (available now on Netflix folks..or in Anchorage at the Bear Tooth...locals, let me know if you want tickets for 5/13..$3.00). I have no freakin' idea what I'm going to wear yet and I have to introduce folks and make a little opening statement. Gag. Ok Breathe...Oh, yeah, did I mention, I'm on overnight at the hospital tonight. Gotta ramp up with some caffein here I guess.

8) Next week, I need to work on my poster and presentation. What's this? I've been invited to attend an International Gathering on Rural Indigenous Midwifery (US & Canada) in Rockville, MD...just a stone's throw away from our nation's capital. I'll be there 5 days and will attend numerous discussion groups, conferences, presentations and information gathering sessions with midwives from all across North America. I feel so honored to be a part of this. You just can't imagine. I am traveling in elite company. Our tribal doctor, Rita Pitka Blumenstein, will be with us. She is one of the Thirteen Grandmothers. Legendary and highly honored Alaska CNM, Marilyn Pierce-Bulger is one of the facilitators. Margaret Baldwin, CNM...developer of the Rural Maternal Child Health Health program for Alaska Natives..sending CNMs from ANMC to rural and remote villages to provide prenatal and women's/infant's health care and education in an adjunct to the Community Health Aide services provided. Joan Koval, CNM will be presenting on Hypnobirthing... classes she offers through our Women's Health Clinic, and I'll be showing off the integrated services model of prenatal and primary care I developed within the substance abuse and mental health treatment program I worked at for more than 7 years. I'm excited to go. It will get me out of town...which I feel like I desperately need right now. And travel knitting time. Love it!

9) The week right after I get back from Rockville, I have my first village travel. Initially, I was supposed to go to Sand Point...waaaaay out on the Aleutian chain...small aircraft...lots of weather. I have airsick issues anyway. When colleague Sarah T. said she was ready for a little adventure and would I be interested in swapping villages...hers were Mentasta and Chistochina...remote..but on the road system, I knew immediately that the right answer was HECK YEAH! So I'll be on a road trip! YAY! Lots and lots of knitting time!

10) The remodel is coming along sooooo....sllllloooooowwwlly..but things are starting to get a little exciting. No pics yet but sooon dahlings soooon.

11) Knitting: Still workin on the Forest Canopy Shawl...have more than 250 stitches on the needles...want a BIG shawl....will be winding down soon I think. Only had to tink back and reknit 4 rows and had no lifeline but threaded my size 1 47" KPO needle through a safe row and it was easy peasy...even through over 240 stitches!

12) The SWEETEST package came in the mail yesterday from blogless candeedarling from the sweets swap on Ravelry. My package is winging it's way to France! I will get photos as soon as I can stop shoving caramels into my mouth. She sent me corn yarn too. Maizy sock yarn..she's just the sweetest.photos to come, honest.

13) Well if you made it this far you are truly a trooper. I'll try to post some photos after this weekend. I feel a bit better now. This blogging post let me vent a bit, organize my thoughts a bit, and realize that honestly, even though gas is over $3.50/gallon here...things could be a helluva lot worse....and it's just life in general! I'm gonna go play with the kitten. And you should go to YouTube and watch THIS!

I'll truly try to post some pics soon! Thanks for reading and all your comments are sincerely appreciated! Knit on.

2008-04-06T20:39:00.003-08:00

My old girl Tallula (Lulu for short) is almost 8 yrs old. Elderly for an Irish Wolfhound. She's in good shape other than arthritis, but transporting her to the vet and groomer and such has become very difficult. At 150+ lbs, lifting her into/out of the trucks is dangerous for both of us. I opted to groom her myself...indoors..(because we still have snow outside). And yes, just to clarify, she IS an INDOOR dog. All of our furkids are. I let her remain lying on her big soft cedar filled pillow bed as I snipped all her dredlocks and mats, trimmed her face and leg feathers...and the dreaded butt mat. Then using bed bath skills learned in nurse's training a hundred years ago...gave her a bedbath! It worked beautifully and only took 3 hours or so. The family was very critical of my grooming job, but she looks better, and definately smells better, and didn't have to get stressed out by a trip to the groomers. And I saved $200! Which can be spent on other endeavors (like maybe yarny goodness?)

Lulu's usually very shy around cameras but I was able to get this shot of her this morning. Isn't she sweet!

I've also done a bit of knitting this week! Hooray...my mojo is coming back I think!
This yarn is a lovely DK merino handpaint from SeeJayneKnit. The colorway was her first version of "Girly Camo". I love it and actually knitted up a Picovoli with this yarn. Sadly, I was almost finished with it before I realized it didn't want to be a Picovoli when it grew up. It was frogged, rewound, and has been contemplating it's future for the past year. I picked up a copy of the "Forest Canopy Shawl" pattern (by Susan Pierce Lawrence)and the "Girly Camo" totally called out. A match made in heaven I daresay...and wow, what an easypeasy nobrainer lace pattern eh! Any of you wanting to try a lace shawl, I'd highly recommend this as a first pattern!

No post would be complete these days without a gratuitous cute kitten shot....here's Bella Blue doing one of her cute kitten acts. Never a dull moment with her that's for sure!

I also finished the hat for Andrea. This is my default Churro earflap hat pattern. It took about 1 1/2 skeins of Nashua Sitar on size 8 KPOs. I think it's quite cute too!

and here's the view from the top. Don't you just love that increase spoke action!

I felted the bags. They turned out great...if you like clown barf. Seriously the red/pink/brown is GORGEOUS...the purple/green/red/yellow...yep. clown barf. Embellishments will be necessary.

Well that's it for tonight. I'm working the next three days so no blogging until late in the week. Knit on!

I Got the Kitten Playin' With Yarn Blues...

2008-04-01T09:43:00.011-08:00

OLD: As in...i'm feeling that way today. Went through my old recipe file folders this morning to get my "HAM ROLL" recipe. (ham, swiss cheese, mushrooms, pimento, scallions all rolled up in a risen yeast bread) Yes, we are still working on the leftover ham from Easter. Best ever ham... made by THE MAN! I found handwritten recipes written by me or given to me from over 25 years ago. Nancy's Seafood Paella recipe threw me right back to the early 80s, when I first arrived in Anchorage. Nancy had a duplex in Muldoon and threw a fabulous party with my first ever fresh steaming open mussels and clams! I thank her today for initiating the expandion of my gustatory repertoire!

NEWS: This Friday is Dr. Andrea Wang's last day at my hospital. She's a wonderful, delightful, gorgeous Uro-Gynocologist (surgeon of leaky women's plumbing) that I've had the immense pleasure of working with for the past year or so. (She covered a lot of OB call too!) She'll be joining a private Urology practice in Anchorage. Seriously, if any women here in Alaska need this kind of service...she's your doc! I'll miss her practical approach and cheerful disposition. As a parting gift, I'm making her one of my ubiquitous variations of Amy Singer's "Churro"

.....out of THIS gorgous stuff!

NASHUA HANDKNITS "Sitar"....I think it looks like the Northern Lights and will look fabulous with her coloring! (NO it wasn't from stash....but I used a gift certificate...does that count?)

Oh...and guess what else I picked up?

Yup...Knitting Around by Elizabeth Zimmerman..thanks to Tara for the inspiration to make a Very Warm Hat from some stashed Classic Elite "Wings"!

BAGS: I FINALLY finished the knitting on the 2nd bag for the KAL. I STILL need to felt them. Maybe this afternoon...or tomorrow...this is my easy schedule week. I love the colorways and am really anxious to see how much they felt down! I've been putting the rest of the shwag together for my swap partner and having a good time with the stitch markers and other trinkets.

Gratuitous kitten photo!

BLUES: Bella Blue is a blast! (and even THE MAN has been caught PLAYING AND SNUGGLING with her!) We are still being very careful with Tucker (the Viszla) and Lulu (the Wolfhound) but all the other furkids are playing nicely together.
...

even PEARL surprisingly!

Here, enjoy a few more kitten pics whilst I knit.

"What's on the other side of that door?"

"It's Tucker, that's what!"

And have a great knitterly week everyone!

Reflecting on this week...

2008-03-26T09:08:00.011-08:00

It has been a long week already. Highlights at work and home...lowlights at work and home. Just life you know, but I'm feelin' the need to reflect a bit. If you're here for the knittin', scroll on through although not much to say on that front.

Where to begin?

Work:
Busy. Very very busy. (2 8hr clinics and 3 12hr L&Ds in 7 days..it's ok..i have more consecutive days off this week). Clinics packed. I was scheduled 16 to 20 patients both days. Several double booked. And of course, they were double booked with transfer prenatal patients so there was lots of new history, review of charts etc to deal with, keeping me late both days. And no lunch because (i know, i know, i did it to myself..just lemme whine willya!) shmuck that I am, I magnanimously told the front desk to book my lunch hour for teens wanting birth control. I'm a huge advocate of long-term no-brainer birth control like Implanon (not suitable for everyone...but very very very safe and EXTREMELY effective for 3 years). Access and appropriate counseling is critical for teens. My soapbox.

L&D just as busy...first night..six normal deliveries (3 first timers with lots of pushing) and one c-section..for a breech who was complete and pushing. Every muscle in my body ached for the next 24 hours. Next L&D day shift...4 more sweet easy peasy normal deliveries, along with 5 new admissions to watch...then the following night another 4 easy deliveries, and filled the house back up with 4 admissions. Not to mention all the "i really really really wanna be in labor" checkin-checkouts. I love my job, and being off today is a perk. I just felt like nothing else really got accomplished...but reflecting on the week, I know that's not true.

Professional Life:
I decided to not attend the annual meeting American College of Nurse-Midwives this year. It's in Boston. With our current home-remodel, I can't justify the expense. And now I have a 'set amount' for CME monies each year from my employer instead of funding through 'program development' allocations. It was a concession for a better quality of life. Anyway, next year the annual meeting is in Seattle. Far more reasonable airfare/hotel etc.

The good news is that I've been invited to be a poster presenter at a special "Indigenous Midwifery Meeting" sponsored by the US Indian Health Service and its Canadian equivalent. They're flyin' me to Rockville, MD for a very jam-packed 3 day conference/summit/networking experience. And all because I happened to nab the Director after her visit to Alaska one day and drive her over and give her a tour of the prenatal substance abuse treatment program I was working with. That was three years ago. Wow. You just never know what seeds get planted do you? It will be nice to get out of town for a bit and experience a bit of lower 48 springtime. I'll also be seeking out a knitting meetup if time permits (although at this time the schedule is pretty intimidating!...receptions..panel discussions...after 9 hours of the actual 'summit' gulp. No good deed goes unpunished!)

Knitting:

Not much. I've started and frogged the following projects this week:

1) Bonsai Tunic in Tussah Silk (after 3 lace repeats decided that thick/thin lace in this pattern just looked like crap)

2) Lizard Ridge in Noro Kureyon (keep screwing up the w&t counts. maybe was just too tired or distracted by other life events..see below...to pay enough attention. frogged but plan to restart very very soon)

3) Branching Out scarf in elann.com's Baby Silk. (finished 3 repeats then totally lost the pattern sequencing and just frogged out of frustration)

4) I still have the 2nd Big Bag for the KAL. It lacks only about 12 more rows to be complete. Then I think I'll just go ahead and felt both of them. I'm kind of done with the big chunky knitting right now.

Domestic Life:

Ran the little grannymeister (AKA Grandma Clara) to the store a couple of times and to the beauty shop. She's decided she needs some new houseshoes and a new spring jacket so we're heading out again this weekend. She has really mastered her new toy (the Cricut) and is sending out a half dozen cards a week or more! She even got another new cartridge that has oilwells (she is from Oklahoma you know) and farm equipment. It just absolutely tickles me that she has worked through her technical frustrations with it. Yes, she still has to refer to the book a lot and yes it does take her a while and yes she does get frustrated and put it away at times..hmmm..sounds like me and my knitting.

She not only does great outsides....but she embellishes the insides of the cards as well!

Fearless crafster Grandma Clara!

The house remodel is going slowly as expected. The cabinet lady was unable to make it up the driveway due to our thaw/freeze early spring glaciation. The parking area is literally a skating rink right now and our 37 degree slope of a driveway makes for some 'interesting' moments. Due to our work schedules, she will need to be rescheduled for at least another week. Crap. On the brighter side...the new dishwasher is ubercool! It has two separate drawers that pull out so you can run a small load or a full load! nifty.

Miss Bella Blue is just entertaining everyone. She plays with her toys but loves yarn and will literally bat and attack a dangling piece of string until she collapses. Ditto with chasing around and beating up a loosely crumpled piece of paper. She is also very affectionate and likes to be around people all the time. She gives lots of nuzzles and purrs very easily. When sleepy, she heads for the nearest lap. The other animals are slowly getting acquainted/getting used to her. Spirit (our eskie) is the friendliest with her and she bats at his tail and leg feathers.

I'm concerned about the Vizla though. He's so aggressive and he jumped up and snapped at her while I was standing with her in my arms. We will need to be very very careful for a long time.

At the grocery store on Saturday, I ran into a woman (a total stranger) who was wearing a darling lacy knitted tuniccy (is that a word?) vest over a same-color long sleeve Tshirt. I stopped her and complimented on how cute that was and asked if she had knitted that herself. She, puffed herself up a bit...and rightly so...and proudly said yes...it was her first lace project and you just had to love chunky knitted lace! I asked her the name of the pattern. It was the Tea Rose Halter from IWK Spring 07. Well of course, I had that issue at home and although I didn't have the right yarn in stash...or maybe just didn't want to pull out all the boxes...I thought I had good yarn to make the Bonsai Tunic...hence my wasted knitting time as reviewed earlier.

Later that same day, on a quick trip to my closest LYS, the Tangled Skein in Eagle River, I was 'identified'...."hey, aren't you Lisa from the blog and BigBag Knitalong"...by Cindy, who works there part-time! How cool is THAT! The way she talked me up, made me feel like a local 'knitterati'! Thanks Cindy!

On a sad note, one of the girl's long-time best friends lost her beautiful horse, Comanche, yesterday. He colicked quite unexpectedly and despite excellent care and veterinary interventions, was unable to be saved. We are all shocked and devastated. Please send your positive thoughts and prayers for comfort in A's grief. The girl is putting together a memory scrapbook of events and trailrides and general good horsey times they had together.

Goodbye dear Comanche. You will be sorely missed.

It just makes my heart ache for her.

This afternoon I'm going to meet up with Sarah & Vickie...two of the night shift L&D nurses I've brought into the fold as it were! Vickie started knitting just a few months ago and has made a gorgeous felted bag and is now getting ready to experiment with lace! Go Vickie. Sarah is learning the joys and frustrations of multiple WIPs! Like...all the excitement of different types of projects for different moods....and the frustration of...crap...the needles you need are already in use! Perhaps they'll let me take some photos today! If so, I'll update you.

Until next time...have a very knitterly week

Kitty Love

2008-03-22T08:40:00.003-08:00

Sometimes things are just meant to be. Please welcome the latest addition to the Midwife's Menagerie...Miss Bella Blue. Lord help us all.More later.

Bed & Breakfast

2008-03-16T20:22:00.004-08:00

Just in time for an Alaskan Spring....or maybe next winter....

I finally finished my Bed & Breakfast sweater. I. Love. It. I love almost everything about it. I know, I do need to reblock it, the top's just a bit too wide and the shoulders are down on my biceps and makes the sleeves a bit too long......I look like quasimodo in the picture but it's just the angle of the photo and the way I'm standing. I love the yarn (Elann.com's Sierra Aran). So soft. (and so very well behaved when you're blocking it) I can wear it next to skin..but I prefer a T-shirt or tank underneath. I love the pattern. This was my first complex cable project. Yes...I did the front AND the back in the same cable pattern.

I learned to cable without a cable needle. I learned to do a bit more complex seaming. I learned...oh god how painful it was...to make a damn neckline go from cables to a complementary rib....and that you still need to bind off necklines with a LARGER needle if you want the thing to fit over your head. I learned it takes me almost 2 hours to weave in 37 ends. These were seaming ends...and neck pick up ends. I spit spliced the joins.

I LOVE the way this fits, feels and looks. I love the fact that finally....after TWO years...this UFO is finally a finished object. Cause for celebration I'm thinking!
Whoohoo!

The specs:

Pattern: Bed & Breakfast by Kathy Zimmerman from IWK Winter 2003, size 40"
Yarn: Elann.com's Sierra Aran, 80% wool/20% alpaca, 14 skeins Damson, 1 skein Mulberry
Needles: various sizes to keep gauge over the life of the project...mostly size 6-7.
Started: March 06 as a KAL with some of the other Elannimals.
Finished: With ends woven in and everything, today! Cheers!

Well, it's back to work tomorrow. Have a very knitterly week!

A Semi-Finished Object

2008-03-14T07:18:00.003-08:00

A week or so ago you might have noticed a snappy new KAL button on the sidebar. Well, not only is it a KAL, but it's also a SWAP. I took a lesson from Grace and joined a couple of swaps and have met some AMAZINGLY fun, interesting, and generous knitters (Hi Ruth my Scrabulous buddy...I'm waving at YOU!..yep, me n' Ruth...playing Scrabble on line...what nerdier good times could you ask for?) But let's talk knitting...OK!

I dug out one of the stash bags labeled 'plain wool-good for felting'.

Inside were about 20 skeins of Patons and Lion brand Classic Wool (note...this is NOT the bag with oddballs of other feltables...these are just the ones I know that play well together and felt to about the same degree) I opted to stick with whatever is in this bag.

Lots of colors to choose from...some plain, some variagated....I opted to start with the green, held doubled as per pattern instructions, and then switch one strand to variagated once on the body of the bag. Once I was a bit into the body, the Variagated (darker of two variagated that would be used) became the constant carry along while the solid strand changed as per striping pattern.

About halfway up the bag, I switched my variagated yarn to one that was a big lighter but still had the reds......until just about the handle, then switched back to the darker variagated for balance. Frankly, I think it turned out very very pretty. Or I'm totally deluded and it looks like clown barf. But since the girl shrieked I LOVE IT WILL YOU MAKE ME ONE at the top of her lungs when she saw it...I think it's a hit.

Here it is hanging on the back of the rocking chair so you can see how humongous it is in its pre-felted stage.

I know I promised you 2 finished objects this post....and I would have given 'em to you too, but unfortunately, I've been lazing about and the blocked out Bed & Breakfast still needs about 20 or 30 ends woven in....and the Daisy baby sweater still needs sleeves sewn on....maybe later today....or maybe I'll just work on the next Big Bag so the girl will have one too!

Clappy is Complete

2008-03-11T12:22:00.003-08:00

Thanks so much Joan for hosting the Fashionably Late in '08 Clapotis Knit-a-Long! I've enjoyed the inspiration and seeing SK's wonderful variations. Tempting me very strongly to go for the 'coin-lace' variation....we'll see. But enough of the chit-chat! Here without further ado is the finished basic Kate Gilbert Clapotis.

Specs: Elann.com Sonata (100% cotton)in 'Rose Garden' colorway. 8 skeins. Every last bit. In fact I had to do about 10 1/2 " of the crochet edging in a different colorway...just for that special handcrafted look you know! I.Love.This.Yarn. (and I don't like cotton so there!) It has a gorgeous sheen and comes in amazing colors. I think though that I liked the idea of this colorway more than how it actually behaved in the fabric. The drop rows enhanced the colors by breaking up the intense variagation.

Knitted on KPO size 6s....I'd do it on 5s if I was into the do-overs. Cotton's heavy, and it stretches.

Size: Unblocked, unstretched: 84"x 24". I'm going to run an iron over it. I don't think I'm going to block it.

Mods to the Pattern: Used the 'no stitch marker method" of purling the drop stitch. I twisted the bracketing knit stitches only, if doing cotton again, i'd twist the bracketing purl stitches too. I also did a simple single crochet edging for stability and to help decrease snagging from the dropped stitches. It still curls most becomingly, yet seems more polished overall.

I sure hope the recipient likes it. I had bad luck with my first Clapotis givaway ("well, you know, I really don't wear purple"...harumph!)

So that's that! Next up you'll see not one but 2 (count em' TWO) surprise FOs. Stay tuned! And have a Great Knitterly Day!

"Why Yes", frankly, "I WAS raised by wolves...."

2008-03-10T08:22:00.010-08:00

"why do you ask?"...

Because I have neglected to blog my immense gratitude to Ruth, my swap buddy from the recent "Misfit Cocoa Swap", hosted by KnitBud Grace! I received my package sometime last week (or possibly even the week before!...sometimes when other family members pick up the mail, a package for the mom can sit silently waiting for days and days...just sayin'). After the recent teen trauma drama things had finally settled down enough to look around and start getting back into the bloggy/knitty/swappy routine again. So, here, I just have to gloat now over this wonderfully cheerful and warm swap package! Things are missing from the pics, I'll just tell you now! I ate the entire Green & Black's Organic Espresso Dark Chocolate bar IN ONE SITTING. Yes, all 3.5 oz of it. I needed the benefits for my blood pressure, and for the antioxidants. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But just look at this! It's chocolat tea. It. Smells. HEAVENLY! I wish your computer had smellivision...seriously it's that good!

And the cocoa...well let's just say I've stashed that Ghirardelli Mocha Cocoa in my work locker for those all-night baby marathons. The Mint Cocoa...mmmm chocolate mint...has been mostly absconded with by the girl and the Grannymeister. I caught the unmistakable aroma of chocolate mint the other morning when they were watching TV...and they looked guilty! The Gingerbread Scones were delicious! The man was pressing the crumbs against his fork to get every last bit of yummyness!

Now let's talk YARN! Face it folks. I WAS SPOILED ROTTEN! I'm using the Baby Alpaca Worsted for a cabled hat JUST FOR ME! It's so soft, I just keep it by the computer to pet! The color is exactly the same as a Chai latte'! And do you see the gleam of silk in that Knitpicks Gloss....70% merino/30% silk...in the aptly named COCOA colorway. Yummmmmm.....2 skeins of this luscious stuff. I've wanted to make a brown shawl and this is absolutely perfect! Now just to decide upon the best pattern...decisions, decisions....

Ruth, it was great being your swapbuddy! You were wonderful and I just wish I had the graciousness and good manners that you have! It's been so nice to get to know you a little bit....and if you're ever up for some on-line team scrabble competition...lemme know!

Big Bag Swap Questionnaire

2008-03-07T08:36:00.003-09:00

1. Do you knit, crochet, or do both? For how long?
I both knit and crochet, but much prefer knitting. Learned to crochet as a youngster, learned to knit the summer I turned 9 (self-taught....library book). Did mostly crochet projects or plain garter scarves until about 8 years ago when I returned to grad school, saw a classmate knitting in those LOOOOOOONG lectures and found it the perfect antidote for a wandering mind...and I don't think the needles have been empty since. Now I only crochet borders or very lacy types of baby blankets.

2. What other crafts do you do, if any?
There are other crafts? No seriously, I sew...occasionally still quilt, embroider a bit, and enjoy beading.

3. What are your favorite colors? Colors you loathe?
I LOVE almost any shade of green or purple...reds and browns come in next...blues need to be more turquoise than navy, and yes, I even like ORANGE, especially combined with red and yellow....colors I loathe....umm...maybe black...but only because it shows so much dog/cat hair!

4. Favorite yarn brands? Fiber types? Yarn you can't stand?
Hmmmmm....I have LOTS of favorites and really never met a yarn I didn't like. Most any of the Elann.com house brands especially the Pamir or Seta Lana, Malabrigo of course. And then there is Noro.(Kureyon, Silk Garden, Big Kureyon)..my true loves....and Plymouth Baby Alpaca...I really like any natural fiber, especially alpaca or merino...especially blended with silk..mmmm... oh oh...wait I know...I really don't enjoy knitting with Fixation or Esprit!

5. What is your favorite type of item to knit/crochet?
I like to knit shawls, hats, sweaters and baby gear, mittens, and socks every once in a while.

6. What kind of needles do you like? (i.e. circular, straight, metal, bamboo, etc.)
I switched over to KnitPicks Options a couple of years ago and seriously have not looked back. Will pull out the old Brittany Birch's for super slippery yarns like SeaSilk. I would love to try the KnitPicks small size circulars for sox on 2 needles, along with their regular DPNs. And I also am hoping to try the KnitPicks Harmony needles at some point (heh..pun intended!)

7. Any knitting tools you lack but crave?
I enjoy collecting and using different stitch markers. And can always use little notion bags, small cutting implements,and point protectors.

8. Patterns you've been dying to get but haven't yet?
Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawl book is at the top of my list....

9. Do you drink coffee, tea, cocoa? Flavors you love/hate?
I like strong black coffee (Seattle's Best...Henry's Blend) and have an Oregon Chai daily. I also drink cocoa (mostly at work on night-call) and love a mocha/chocolate flavor. I love good English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast teas....I don't care for all the extra fancy flavors (hazelnut..irish cream....coconut..bleah..leave those for the teenyboppers I say!) but a hint of mint, vanilla, raspberry, citrus or chocolate is welcome. Green teas are nice too but I tend to reach for the black teas first.

10. Favorite sweets & snacks?
Dark dark dark chocolate. Dried fruits. Nuts. (Hot Tamales but don't tell anyone!)

11. Any pets, kids, spouses? Spouses that act like pets or kids? (j/k)
My house is a zoo. Two Cats, two horses-they're in the backyard and the barn but have been known to walk right into the den from the deck if the door is open) three dogs, one DH, one almost 16yr old DD, and the 86 yr old granny round out the fam.

12. Favorite things to knit/crochet for the above, if applicable?
The man loves his handknit hats and wears them DAILY in winter. Handknit sweaters...he's not so excited about..whatever. DD loves to wear her handknit hats and fingerless mitts, and the little grandma Clara....she enjoys the coat and shawl I've knit for her!

13. What kinds of books do you like to read? Favorite authors or genres?
Very eclectic reading tastes....for low brain energy days/nights...fangbanger trash is great (Charlaine Harris, Laurel K. Hamilton) but generally speaking I enjoy GOOD fantasy/sci-fi, most historical accounts...like Nathanial Philbrick's 'In the Heart of the Sea', fiction like Ken Follett's 'Pillars of the Earth' and 'World Without End'. I'm a pretty rabid reader so there's always something different going on in each bag or room of the house.

14. Do you collect anything? (besides yarn! LOL!)
Sock monkeys (especially old tatty ones from the thrift store), Rolling pins, any type of 'peapod' art, old knitting needles, old (1940 or earlier) medical, nursing, midwifery, public health books, native art.

15. What, if any, are your non-craft related hobbies?
Hiking, Gardening (flower and vegetable). Reading. Thrift store shopping, camping & fishing.

16. Scents you adore? Scents that make you gag? I LOVE Patchouli, lavender, citrus fragrances. Vanillas, warm spicy fragrances. I don't care for the super floral scents or the cookie/cake/berry sort of mixtures. Don't really enjoy the smell of wet dog, or catbox either though ;0

17. What is your idea of a relaxing time?
Relaxing time for me is sitting on my deck/in my garden/on the sofa in front of the fireplace, drinking a glass of beer/wine/water or cup of tea/coffee/cocoa and just reading or knitting or beading away.

18. Oh yeah, are you on Ravelry and if so, care to share your Ravelry ID?
I am on Ravelry....LisaW...(all run together like that!)

The Girl vs. The School District

2008-03-01T09:02:00.006-09:00

If charges were still pending, I wouldn't be able to blog about this (spoiler...I know...but anyway). Here's what's been happening in MY world this week.

I was working a 12hr very busy L&D call Monday day. Had a few minutes and tried to call the man just to say "hi". Hmmmm...no answer at home, I call his cell phone. "Oh hi, lemme call you back, I'm at the school in the discipline principal's office".
me: (thinking to self "WTF") "what's going on? Is the girl alright"?
the man: "she's not hurt or anything....I just got here and am trying to figure out what happened. I'll call you back in 15-20 minutes".

An hour passes and no call. I call him back.
the man: "I'm still with the principal...it's pretty serious...the girl's been suspended....we'll talk more when you get home tonight".

me : (thinking OMG, OMG, OMG!)"can you tell me a little bit about it because otherwise I'm going to imagine awful things"

the manl: "Let's just talk about it when you get home....you worrying now is NOT going to do anyone any good"

me: (thinking. oh shit...this must be really bad.)

I get home around 9pm and hear the entire story. Teachers....avert your eyes...this is NOT PRETTY.

The girl attends a local high school. She's overall an A-B student, well-liked by all but one of her teachers, popular with other kids and school staff....a normal teen who's had a couple of 'walks on the wild side' but no real trouble or emotional problems or anything beyond normal teen angst. She's pretty high spirited, strong-willed, speaks her mind. I respect that. She has had ongoing difficulty with one of her teachers. An older sort of fellow, somewhat on a retirement tract, this man is seriously unable to control his classroom in any way, shape or form. According to the girl (who has made numerous complaints about how he interacts with the kids...both to me and the man as well as to authorities within the school). Anyway...during one of this teacher's interminable lectures...another student turned to the girl and said "this is why we aren't allowed to bring weapons to school"....which got her and the other kids at her table laughing and joking around about weapons in the school and torturing teachers etc. Do you see where this is heading yet?

The girl, always up for fun and games, started rolling with it and started WRITING DOWN a list (RULE #1...NEVER WRITE DOWN ANYTHING)of all the ideas they were coming up with. As a matter of fact....the title of the page....in BIG BOLD LETTERS....was "Plan to Murder Mr. XYZ". Yes...that is pretty scary. The mechanisms for this plan as listed included the following: 1) an arrow to the stomach 2) hot wax in his eyeballs 3) red ants to his toes 4) shoot off his elbows 5) salt and tabasco sauce to his cuts 6) hit on back of kneck (sic) with a big stick .....etc...#1 and #6 were the most lethal ideas.

At the end of class, the girl thought she'd wadded up the sheet of paper and thrown it away. Key word is thought. Evidently it had slipped under her desk and Mr. XYZ found it .....and through a thorough handwriting analysis, the girl was implicated. She was called to the principal's office in fourth hour, where being the forthcoming child that she is.....admitted very openly that yes she had written this and yes she (along with many other classmates) had participated in this act.

She was given an IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY SUSPENSION WITH RECOMMENDATION FOR PERMANENT EXPULSION FROM THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT! AND....the police officer covering the school was called in and legal charges were also filed. Four of them. 3 Misdemeanor assault charges and 1 Felony assault charge!!!!! My kid...my barrel racing champion...A-B student.....basic overall good citizen.....with a FELONY ASSAULT charge! Holy Crap!

Understandibly, she was in tears, hysterical almost. She has worked her ASS off to keep up her grades after a little slip-up last November. Her head is totally screwed on right. She is NOT anywhere's near a juvenile delinquent, yet, ordered now to do an intake with our local youth center with the possibility of actually having to DO TIME in McLaughlin (local juvenile detention center).

When questioning the girl, and reviewing the facts of the situation....I really had a hard time wrapping my mind around how this could happen. I am thoroughly sensitive to the need for safety in the schools. I am very aware of the rash of shootings both in high schools and colleges that have occurred over the past decade. I understand the school district's NO TOLERANCE for violence of any kind policies. But for the love of God and all that is holy do you think that the school district may have overreacted JUST A TEENSY BIT! in this situation?

As I was reading the fine print of the Alaska Statutes my child was charged with having violated...the main theme of which was if the 'victim' ever 'felt in fear' at any time, I just got more and more frustrated and angry. "FEAR... I'll SHOW THAT SOB FEAR"(illustrative fictional sentence only I must add to assure all that no assault or threat is intended!!) I raged at the man while pacing back and forth and throwing my hands in the air....The man (AKA "the voice of reason" in this circumstance) said..."honey...while I sympathize with your response....and feel the same way you do...this behavior is NOT HELPFUL. What we need to do is write a rational and well-reasoned letter to the principal and school district asking for an appeal....there is an established process...and I need your help with this" He was so good and calm and thoughtful. And he sent off a most thoughtful and succinct letter. The following day, the principal called to schedule a meeting. She stated that after interviewing the other students, and the rest of the girl's teachers (all of whom spoke very highly of her thank you very much!) they were willing to reconsider the suspension and recommendation for expulsion. At the meeting, in which the girl verbally apologized and took full responsibility for making anyone feel uncomfortable and recognized the environment in which her actions could have been taken as meaningful threats, the school graciously reduced their punitive actions to a mere 5 day suspension and a change to a different class. All legal charges were also dropped. THANK GOODNESS!

As a parent, I need to feel that my child is safe in her school. As a citizen and tax payor, I also want my child's educators to feel safe in their work environment. But I still cannot help but feel that the situation was blown way the hell out of proportion initially, and had the man and I not been as pro-active parents in this...the outcome may have been far different. It's a complicated world we live in now, and often, a dangerous one. But how many of us have made similar jokes or off-the-cuff remarks about public officials, employers, systems etc. I hate to say it...but the take-home message from this seems to be you can say anything you want but NEVER WRITE ANYTHING DOWN....because it will surely come back to bite you in the ass.

I guess all's well that ends well. The girl got a 5 day break from school, I think learned a pretty strong lesson about consequences for behaviors...maybe even learned to be more thoughtful about how her actions can impact others in a harmful way, and switched out of a class where she didn't get on so well with the teacher. It's been a hard week for her. Lots of uncertainty, tension, feelings that the punishment wasn't appropriate to the crime. She...and we...learned though...to go through the process with facts and openness and polite assertiveness. And although challenging, frustrating and uncomfortable for all of us as a family, we were all satisfied with the appropriateness of the outcome in the end. And she got some extra riding time in....which is a bonus in the winter.

Well, that was my week. Hope yours was far less eventful. Knit on!

Grandma Clara's New Toy

2008-02-22T15:45:00.002-09:00

A few weeks ago, I took Grandma Clara to a local craft bazaar. She saw a crochet'd flower potholder/hotpad that she took a fancy to. After a short search online, I found a similar pattern and Grandma Clara went to work. She's cranked out one every day or so since then and seems to have found a way to use up fortythousand skeins of Redheart she has stashed away. I bet I know what everyone's getting for Christmas next year.

Then, last weekend, she saw an ad on TV for "a new cutting machine...you just push a button....it's called a cricket".....so I searched online to find out what she was talking about. I thought it might be a bit too technical for her...but she absolutely insisted on getting one. I heard about it daily...sometimes two times a day...and finally stopped at JoAnns on the way home from work last night to pick it up for her. Expensive as all get out....but if you've been reading for any length of time, you know that Grandma Clara spends a lot of her time creating handmade greeting cards. They are very very creative and are little treasured works of art! She felt that this would add to her craft. Today we spent a couple of hours playing with the machine. I think she has her mind wrapped around it pretty well....

See what I mean! All in all, I guess if you are 86 years old and want to buy yourself a new toy and have the means to do so.....go for it ;0 Knit on!

"I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"

2008-02-18T11:17:00.003-09:00

I started out the Clappy in Elann.com's Sonata print on size 7s. Made it through most of the increase section before deciding the fabric was too loose...frogged...and restarted on size 6s which feels a lot nicer in my very humble opinion. I also am using the 'no stitch marker method' i.e. purling all the knit stitches that will be dropped (aka the knit stitches between the two kbl stitches). I find that it's much easier to keep track this way. One skein of the Sonata Print made it to within 3 rows of the end of the increase section...the second skein has gotten me through the rest of the increases and 3 straight rows...I have 7 skeins total and plan to start the decrease section when i have a skein and a half left. If the Clappy's a little short, the cotton should stretch to length..

I must say this yarn is a delight to knit with...and I'm not usually a big fan of knitting with cotton. I purchased this back in May 06 planning to make a miter square top that just didn't really work for me in the execution.....but this colorway...Rose Garden....was too pretty to give up on. It did pool a bit ungracefully for a short while, but the separation by drop stitch will take care of that....

So far I think it will be a nice marriage between yarn and pattern.....and purling the drop stitches...makes the pattern ideal for TV knitting!

Knit on!

Clapotis Knit-A-Long

2008-02-15T11:21:00.003-09:00

yay to Joan for setting up another fun KAL! I made Kate Gilbert's Clapotis back when the pattern first came out and I was easily swayed by the crowds. I used a pretty purple/green/cream handpaint superwash merino and gifted it to a co-worker for her birthday. Never saw her wear it....one day she said to me.."you know I really just don't wear purple"....hmmph! Oh well, she'll pass it on or thrift store it and someday somewhere someone will get use from it. This Clappy will also be gifted....but I know the yarn colorway is perfect for her!

This is Elann.com's Sonata, 100% cotton. Has a nice sheen and rave reviews from all who've used it. I think it will be a really comforting summer shawl for a friend who is going through a sad time right now.

If anyone reading this hasn't made this fun EASY satisfying knit....DO NOT HESITATE to jump on the Clappy bandwagon! Here's the link for the FASHIONABLY-LATE-IN-2008 Clapotis KAL! All aboard!

Catching Up

2008-02-13T09:20:00.002-09:00

Thanks so much for your kind comments on the 'More Stripes...Only Not' vest. I've worn it to work and it was warm, comfortable and very stylish. Since then, I've had knitting ADD! I was straightening up and sorting through the yarn and projects in the basket by my bed (visualize a large wicker laundry basket overflowing with yarn, needles, patterns...yep, that's it!) and came across a few UFOs that were in dire need of clearing from the queue.

These are mittens I started in November for a Christmas gift...but never finished. 1 1/2 mittens down and DD said "I LOVE THOSE...CAN I HAVE THEM"...But of course you can my child....so now she has thick cozy warm springtime cheerful mittens. The yarn is Plymouth Galway Paint Chunky, knit on size 8s. The pattern is a variation from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns. Love this book. Strongly encourage anyone to add it to their library. It's my 'go-to' for basics!

Next up.....I needed a quick birthday gift for non-knitting buddy Linda. Linda needed new gloves because her old ones are oh so shabby...definately not chic! These are my first gloves with actual FINGERS...and again made using the Ann Budd 'Handy Book of Patterns'. The yarn is Plymouth Boku carried along with Elann's Devon. The two yarns played very well together and made a quick knit and dense fabric on size 6s. Just a few ends to weave in left and they'll be gifted at the end of the month.

I needed to make another little quick gifty and found a great pattern on Ravelry for these cute Fingerless mitts. I modified it a bit to give them a nice gussetted thumb...just because I think thumbs should stay warm too....but sadly, I have been unable to find the link again. Drat! I just love the feminine lacy cuffs. I held two strands of Elann's Devon together for these and knitted them on size 3s. Nice warm dense fabric. The color combo of green and brown reminds me of spring grass just sprouting up....or old toile prints....i think they're cheerful and hope the recipient enjoys them.

Lastly, I finished reknitting (for the eleventyjillionth time) the neck for 'Bed and Breakfast' from IWK Winter 03. I started this bad boy in March 06 with a knit-a-long on the Elann.com chatsite. I actually finished the body and sleeves and everything within about 3-4 weeks, however....the neckline totally kicked my butt. I tried multiple modifications...funnel, plain, roll, no cables, stockinette, ribbing...nothing worked right. I set it aside and it kept moving deeper and deeper into the UFO abyss. The timing was right though, and I was able to finish the neckline the other day without too much more drama....okay, okay, i did bind off too tightly and had to rip out the last two rows and redo the bindoff on larger needles, but today is the seaming of sleeves and sides.....a quick soak, reblock, and hopefully another FO this weekend! Hooray!

Right now I'm working on a quick baby hat, and then will need to pick out yarn for the new Clapotis KAL (hey, retro is in!). I've been swatching like crazy trying to decide what to do for March though.....trying really hard to do stash knitting only....at least for a while...

Well, that's all for today. Hope you are enjoying your weather wherever you are! Knit on!

Stick a Fork in it Baby!

2008-02-05T12:45:00.001-09:00

It's done and I'm overall well-pleased with the end product!

Here's the recap: 1st...the Yarn: Berroco Uxbridge Tweed-discontinued-a rich brick red tweeded with brown, rust, olive and flecks of cream. Has the absolute color of a good vegetable marinara sauce! Aran weight, wool/cotton/acrylic blend. FROM STASH... old stash...purchased in 2000 from the now defunt Yarn Frenzy. I sure miss Sandy & Danielle...I digress.

Knitted on KPO size 6s & 4s for gauge.
The pattern: Amy King's More Stripes from Knitty.com. I had to go on faith with gauge and pattern instructions and common sense regarding V-neck to make the 32 1/2" size as specified. I am not 32 1/2" in bust, nor have I been since age 9 or 10. But I measured around my ribcage under my bust and it was about 33" so it kind of all made sense. I did make several modifications...first of all I used the wrong side of the K4pP1 fabric..then added a bit of length, 3" overall, and shaped the waistline for about 4" by going down 2 needle sizes. I also used a single crochet edging to finish the armholes and decrease bulk.

The STEEKING process was quite exhilarating! (link provided if you'd like continuity here!)

Picking up the neckline per the instructions made a really nice edging around the neck! Very 'finished' looking. I blocked her out to measurements. Voila'! I am really pleased with the outcome! It will look nice with work clothes or with jeans. And it really keeps my "vesty parts" warm!