More Summer Fun

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

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

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

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

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 .....

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........

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

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

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!

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?

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!