Knitting Kniceties and Other Knonsense

Arrival

2007-10-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 7, 2007

We left home Saturday afternoon, and took a redeye flight from Oakland that arrived in Atlanta at 6am Sunday. From there we flew into Hartford, Connecticut. The weather was warm and a little humid. We drove through Connecticut and Massachusetts into New Hampshire. It was an uneventful drive, although in Holyoak, Massachusetts, we encountered this motorcycle parade. Main Street was pretty much blocked off and they had police escorts at the beginning and end. People pulled over to watch, and there were even people sitting by the side of the road in folding chairs. We estimated there were about six hundred motorcycles.

We stopped along the way to buy supplies (snack food and things for the car), and stopped along a stream to take pictures,

but mostly we drove.

We were very tired, since we only got a couple hours sleep on the plane and had been up for about thirty six hours and mostly just wanted to find a nice place to sleep.

We found it in Peterborough, NH. We stayed at a very nice B&B called the Little River B&B. The owners were a very nice couple who were very helpful about things to see in the area and they even knew the whereabouts of a couple yarn stores nearby.

Arches to Beaver

2007-09-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 31, 2007

(Okay, it's taken me too long to continue. But here's the next installment of our southwestern adventure).

We got up early (did you know there was life before 7am???) to see Arches National Park by sunrise. We were a little late for the pre-sunrise beautiful light, but since it was cloudy the light was a little sporadic anyway. We saw the sunrise, and we saw the light on the rocks.

The rocks are AMAZING. Great red color, lots of geological stripes, and these great carved shapes caused by many years of water and wind.

I didn’t get any pictures you haven’t already seen a million times, so I’ll just show you this one, which I’m pretty sure you HAVEN’T seen a million times:

I guess, seen one arch, you’ve seen them all:

I did find a beetle, but this guy was cuter:

From Arches we drove westward to Capitol Reef.

And the wonderful clouds that often weren’t there in the morning but congregated during the day to become something like this:

And right on schedule:

At Capitol Reef we found more interesting rock formations:

And here we found petroglyphs:

Actually, we stopped at the turnout where the first petroglyphs were, and I couldn’t see them. So we came back after looking around the visitors center, and some other visitors very kindly pointed and pointed until I could finally see them. Sometimes I’m such a dummy…

Near the visitors center is an old house that’s been turned into a little shop and bakery. It’s run by Mormons, so the there are lots of handmade items inside, as well as very tempting foods. We bought two pies for later consumption.

Then we went into the park:

The wild photographer stalking his prey:

See those dark clouds behind the rock? Remember them…

We drove in to the end of the road and hiked in to see more petroglyphs:

You knew this was coming, right?

As we walked back to the little picnic area next to the parking lot, those clouds I showed you earlier opened up. They were turbo clouds – the rain just CRASHED down. Just a few yards to the picnic area and we were totally drenched. So was the path:

Okay, it doesn’t look like such a big deal, but really, this was after just a minute or so of rain.

Anyway, we sat under the awning and ate our pies.

The rain stopped, we finished our pie, and then headed back out of the canyon the same way we went in.

and continued on to Beaver, Utah.

All righty. Now you’ve followed us to Beaver, Utah. Stay tuned!!

Chama

2007-09-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

August 28, 2007

We spent Monday night and Tuesday night in Chama, New Mexico. We came here for two reasons – one, our favorite singer/songwriter John Stewart gave a concert here almost exactly ten years ago which neither of us went to (darnit). But second, there’s a narrow gauge railroad that runs from Chama to Antonito, Colorado, and we decided to ride it. It’s called the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. It was built around 1880 and is still very authentic to that period.

Before we boarded the train, though, we got up at about 4am to watch the total lunar eclipse. We were staying in a little cabin in Chama and set up our cameras in the parking lot. There were lights all around us on all the cabins, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the photos. This was my best one:

When it was over, we went back to bed for a couple hours, and got up again to ride the train.

We boarded in Chama, and took off at about 10am. Here’s the front of the train from the back:

And the back of the train from the front:

And from the inside:

The scenery was beautiful.

At Cumbres Pass, at 10,000 feet, we stopped to fill the water tank. A little later, going around this bend, the pilot cleared the pipes by blowing the steam out. Like this:

Apparently there was a guy named Max Pacheco who worked on the restoration of the tracks in the ‘80s. On his lunch breaks, wherever he was, he would carve his name into a tree. It’s hard to hit a tree from a moving train, so I only got one photo:

This guy followed behind us the entire way. He’s a fire train, and he’s there for the sole purpose of putting out any flames that might be started by the coal that runs the train:

In the olden days, they communicated by telegraph. Occasionally outside the train you’ll see telegraph poles in various stages of disrepair and tangled wires.

With the advent of telephone, the engineer could now communicate with the station. He would stop the train, disembark, and make his phone call here:

These guys were close to the tracks when we came by, and apparently we startled them.

We stopped in Osier for lunch and also to switch engines with the train that started in Antonito. The welcoming committee:

The exchange:

One of the docents stopped in each car for a short concert:

And then we took this “coach” back to Chama.

Taos

2007-08-29T23:11:00.001-07:00

Taos, August 26, 2007

Taos isn’t at all what I expected. I thought it would be like Santa Fe, only more so. More art, more spiritual, more expensive. But it isn’t. Unless we we’re in the wrong part. We’ll do some exploring tomorrow and maybe we’ll find more of the mystery I thought we’d find.

Although these guys were right outside our hotel room:

And this was possibly the best meal so far on this trip:

And some things we saw in store windows walking back to our hotel:

And this, just because I thought it was pretty:

More tomorrow!!

Santa Fe

2007-08-29T22:53:00.001-07:00

Santa Fe, August 25, 2007

We arrived in Santa Fe Friday night, and spent all day Saturday there too. What a wonderful city! Well, the plaza part, which is where we spent our time. It’s just what I thought it would be, just oozing creativity and art. Tons of shops selling jewelry, pottery, paintings, sculptures, clothing, souvenirs… And lots of food. Hoo boy, the food!!!

We arrived in time for the wonderful sunset light. So I saw this:

which looked like this the next morning:

I had lots of fun taking more abstract photos rather than scenics. Like these:

And this one, I couldn’t decide whether I liked it better this way, which is what it really looked like:

Or this:

What do you think?

On our way out of Santa Fe, we took a scenic road that had lots of wildflowers and pretty houses, but we didn’t stop there. But I did see this nice gate:

And these mailboxes:

We still saw rain in the distance

But only got splattered with a few drops. The landscape changed as we drove toward Taos.

Turquoise Trail

2007-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

We left Mountainair in the morning and continued along the Turquoise Trail. I think this store was Mountainair. I love buildings like this.

We found more ruins. These are the Quarai Ruins, an abandoned Tiwa Pueblo Indian village from about 1200 to the 1670s.

It was pretty dry inside the ruins, but there were some dehydrated flowers

and of course…

Bugs!!!

We drove through more desert

to the town of Madrid, which has some old-time charm. My pictures weren’t very good though. These are the ones I like:

And finally…

Santa Fe!

Silver City to Mountainair

2007-08-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

After we left Silver City, we drove. We drove through San Juan on Highway 152, where there was some interesting landscaping:

The scenery along the highway was pretty deserty:

And even the flowers were deserty:

Have you noticed I like bugs? Well, taking pictures of them anyway. Otherwise, not so much. This guy was pretty cool though – and pretty patient:

And on we drove…

… to the town of Hillsboro, New Mexico. I think it’s a fairly touristy town, but it’s very cute. A lot of artists there.

You can’t really take photos of people’s work, but I was allowed to take a picture of this quilt, which I really liked:

From Hillsboro we drove on I-25. We stopped for lunch in the town of Elephant Butte. Really.

We visited a little art gallery with a cute welcoming committee:

There was a storm up ahead

That we drove into

We saw lightning over the mountains so we stopped for a while to try to get photos. These were the best ones I could get:

Once the lightning stopped, the clouds were still very dramatic:

At sunset we arrived at the Abo Ruins, which are the remains of a Spanish mission.

When it got dark we drove into Mountainair

where the hotel had a pretty window

and

Gila Cliff Dwellings

2007-08-26T00:47:00.000-07:00

August 25, 2007

So after the White Mountains we went to Silver City. From there we visited the Gila cliff dwellings, which are caves in the rocks where people of the Mogollon culture lived from the 1280s through the early 1300s. On the way there we saw lots of wildflowers

Some of the flowers had bees on them

And some had beetles

And some had grasshoppers

Once we got on the trail to hike up to the cliff dwellings, we found a black tailed rattlesnake that someone had tried to kill. Nearby was a female, obviously agitated. We took a couple photos and then left her alone.

This is the first view of the cliff dwellings from the trail

Here’s some more:

The blackness you can see on the ceiling is soot from the ancient cooking fires. Here’s a closeup:

There were a few petrographs. Here’s a man:

and here’s a snake:

This is the ladder we climbed back down to the trail. Did I mention I’m scared to death of heights? And ladders? But I did it. You can tell because I’m here telling you about it. Does this look as steep to you as it does to me?

We drove back to Silver City after we left the cliff dwellings. We saw more wildflowers

and more beetles

There was a storm in the distance, and this rainbow appeared in front of us. The light from the sunset behind us was so warm you couldn't see any blues or purples in the rainbow.

And so, unlike the rest of the world, we drove off into the ... rainbow.

HIghway 60 and White Mountains

2007-08-22T09:50:00.001-07:00

August 21, 2007

Yesterday we drove Highway 60 through Arizona.

At a turnout overlooking a landslide

Can you see the almost buried car? That must have been quite a ride!

I also found this guy

Who did this when I got too close:

And we drove on

Today we drove through the White Mountains in Arizona and into New Mexico. It’s so beautiful – so different from the dry brownness of California.

Storm clouds gathered:

And the rain started

And while we were dinking around taking pictures of the storm in the distance

A couple miles ahead this was happening:

And even a flash flood:

When the storm cleared, we found beautiful flowers

And a moth on a leaf

And finally, the sunset:

Desert Drive

2007-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

(Despite what Blogger says, this was written on August 13, 2007. I just haven't been near an internet connection to post this).

Today we drove from San Diego to Phoenix.

What, doesn’t everyone want to be in Arizona in August?

On the way out of San Diego the temperature reached 103, and as we drove into the desert, it climbed

And yes, I know it’s blurry, but you try taking sharp pictures close up in a bouncing car.

I’m not a gambler but at this point I was ready to bet on 120. It got to

… and stopped. Darn.

After we climbed through the mountains, we dropped to…

BELOW sea level.

Lots of really long trains run through the desert.

But they’re not immune from graffiti

After a gorgeous sunset

we had dinner in Gila Bend, at the

It’s very Fifties and reminds me of an old science fiction movie. The walls are decorated with photos and pictures of outer space

At 10:22 pm…

And we stopped for gas at a station that has a very high opinion of itself:

No really, I wasn't abducted by aliens...

2007-08-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I’m the world’s worst bloggist. Bloggationary. Bloglodite. Whatever. I’m a slug about other things too, so don’t take it personally. But I do feel bad. I wish someone would invent whatever it is that would let me send emails and blog entries mentally… I’m really good at writing when I’m not near my computer.

So anyway, let me catch up.

Socks. Several socks have happened since my last post. Even better, several PAIRS of socks have happened. And there are pictures:

Branched Fern Socks
Twisted Spaghetti yarn, size 0 needles

Elegant Cable Socks
Regia Silk, size 0 needles

Victorian Lace Socks by Lorri Ann Romesberg
Regia Cotton, size 0 needles

There’s another one, Jeanie Townsend’s Lilac socks, that I can’t find the photo for. I used Li'l Bit of Heaven Fibers Merino Yarn and I love how they feel, but after the first wearing the bottoms had already started felting. They fuzzed a bit around the shoe area too. I don’t know how long they’ll last, and I guess it’s because they’re 100% merino with no added nylon or anything for strength, but I’ll wear ‘em till they drop. They feel like, well, a Li’l Bit of Heaven.

So that’s the backlog. And now, back to our regular programming…

Suddenly I seem to have several cable projects OTN, and it’s been bothering me more and more that I can’t figure out how to read the symbols for the different types of cables and know what to do without also looking at the instructions. But then, after tinking five or six rows because of a cable crossed wrong, I realized that it was less important to be able to read the chart than it was to read the cables themselves, and that’s made a huge difference. No more mistakes, and less time looking back and forth on the pattern.

Next I’d like to learn how to make the cables without a cable needle (or in this case, tapestry needle). I did it once on a very simple cable pattern, but the ones I’m doing now have several types of cables in each pattern and maybe it would be too confusing to try to learn a new technique where there are so many variables. Unless I see a really good explanation or tutorial.

So here. Meet Calla. Isn’t she gorgeous? Here’s what mine looks like:

So far.

I’m using the same yarn as the sample, Dale of Norway Svale, and boy is it yummy. It’s splitty, so I have to watch what I’m doing, but it’s soft and creamy and luscious, and I can’t wait to feel it on my skin. It’s so yummy, in fact, that I might actually get it finished before something else grabs me around the neck and makes me knit it.

Maybe.

Life is too short to knit one thing at a time.

February

2007-02-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm realllly late posting this, but I wanted to show the package I received from Kathi Young in the Socks in a Bag exchange by the TSoxKnitalong group.

Well, it doesn't look as good in a photo as it does in person. There's a wonderful bag with shimmery gold embroidery and GORGEOUS Bearfoot Mountain Colors yarn in Huckleberry colorway, beautiful stitch markers in a tiny purple heart box, a purple accessories bag and two yummy chocolate bars that unfortunately (or not) didn't live long enough to be included in the photo. Oh, and the pattern for Leaf Lace Socks, which you can see peeking out underneath everything. Thank you sooooooo much, Kathi -- you made my day!!!

So while I'm here, I also wanted to show you this scarf I'm making. I wanted to find a lacy pattern to teach at Michaels, and I found a lacy leaf pattern that looks great scarfwise. I'm using Patons SWS yarn, which has intrigued me ever since I first saw it. This is the Natural Pink colorway -- isn't it pretty?

I love working with this yarn. It's soft. It's not twisted, so it has a sort of fluffy quality. It doesn't tink well, but it feels great. I think it's going to be really lovely when it's blocked. Which I've never done before, so I guess I'll get to learn soon.

Yikes!

My FIRST First Socks

2007-01-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

Not to be confused with my SECOND first socks, which are the first pair I FINISHED and which were given to my sister for her birthday. My FIRST first pair are the first pair of socks I ever started, using real sock yarn (On Line brand, color... hard to tell from the label. Maybe 794, maybe Summer, maybe Purple B. I don't know.)

Anyway. I used the pattern that came with them, from On Line. And I'm not an expert, but I think I don't like them a whole lot. First, when I bought the yarn, I wasn't aware of all the really yummy yarn out there, and this isn't really yummy. It's not bad, but it's not inspiring either. The saleslady told me I should use size 3 needles with this yarn, and she lied. The fabric is too loose. The heels are very baggy and the toes are way too pointy (the pattern said to decrease down to eight stitches before I kitchenered. I think that's too few. It doesn't help that my kitchenering sucks, but I'll practice before I get to that point on my first second pair).

So here's the On Line socks:

And here's a picture of my first second pair (this is theknitter.com's sock of the month club offering for December 2006, Elegant Cable Socks using Regia Silk color 070, which is greener than it looks in the photo).

I LOVE the Regia. It's oh-so-soft and knits up very gooshy. I'm using size 0 DPNs and unless something goes very wrong I know I'm going to love the socks. I'll finish the heel today and may even get to the toe, depending how many errands crop up.

Lizard Content

2007-01-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

When I joined the Lizard Ridge Knitalong group, I thought I had to have a blog to join, so I created this one. When it turned out I DIDN'T need a blog, it was too late. Have blog, will post. Not frequently, obviously, but still.

So, to justify this blog, in case it needed justifying, here is my first Lizard Ridge posting -- a photo of my second completed square:

Pardon the dangling ends, of course, but other than that, isn't it GORGEOUS?!!!! How can anyone NOT want to make hundreds of these things once they've seen them? (Actually, it looks a little bluer than in real life, so just imagine the square looking like this only better). This square was made with Noro Kureyon color 40.

And now I get to choose the yarn for the next square. Which means, oh darn, I'll have to play in the Kureyon. Well, somebody's got to do it.

Trim a Tree exchange

2006-12-11T09:31:00.000-08:00

Lookie what I received from my exchange partner in the KKEX Trim a Tree exchange, Joyce Lewis!!! (Well, lookie if I can figure out how to post a photo). Joyce, thank you so much -- these are wonderful gifts!

And because I can, and because they're cute as heck, I'm going to add a picture of two of my babies:

This is the cat currently known as Furrball on the left (pending better name by her father) and Furrari on the right. Both are about nine or ten months old and when they're not wrestling with each other or eating my socks, they're sweet as can be. And oh yeah. They eat MY weight in cat food every day.

I'd like to show you a picture of their big sister Raven but I don't have one handy. Soon. Be patient. She's worth waiting for.

2006-11-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

The first time I ever heard the word “blog” was several years ago when my stepmom suggested I visit her daughter’s. Amy’s a writer and I enjoyed reading what she wrote, but I had no idea there was more than one reading involved. I’m going to have to see if she still has hers. Anyway, I thought the word “blog” was silly and since I never have anything to say I knew I would never have my own.

But since I’ve gotten so obsessed with knitting and looming, I have visited many wonderful and inspiring blogs, and I have to say they’ve given me something to aim for. So here I am, still with nothing to say, but I’m going to say it on the Web.