So you may be asking where's the WOOL!

Yes I do knit and I do have a current project.  It is off the needles for the most part----snicker-snicker.  If you are a knitter you know that if a project is off your needles there is finish work.  I am now in the process of finish work.  I used to really dislike finish work.  Now, I enjoy it as finish work goes fast and there tends to be a nice variety of little jobs.

This sweater is from one of my very favorite knitting dynasties Schoolhouse Press.  If you are a knitter and have not discovered Schoolhouse Press please have a look!  The sweater was posted in Wool Gathering issue #68 and is the Drop-Shoulder Cardigan.  Elizabeth Zimmermann was the founder and now her daughter Meg Swansen carry on her great fiber tradition.  Meg's son Cully is also carrying the torch forward.  I love using EZ's percentage system which once you learn and use you will love (or at least I think you should).  I use the percentage system all the time and use patterns as a guide.  I find the percentage system very liberating.  It is a bit like not staying inside the lines when coloring!

 This is a crochet steek.  I use this technique often.  The sweater is knit in the round and then a chain of crochet is used joining half of two knit sts.  Once done you cut the bars of yarn and this creates a cardigan in this case.  The grey yarn is used as a guide for cutting.  

This is another steek for the arm opening.

And with all knitting one may need to frog.  Frogging is the "ripping out" of your knitting work.  I have to admit this is a normal part of knitting.  One sleeve was longer than the other.  I needed to frog the color work and add a few rows in green and re-do the color work.

Success the sleeve and color work corrected.

Now this was a challenge I worked on for 2 days and the said FOR GET IT!  See don't be afraid to do your own thing in knitting.  The shoulders had an icord bind off which in theory I like.  However, in this sweater, it looked like I had a giant worm crossing my shoulders.  After a lot of work, I tossed out the worm and did a nice 2 needle bind off and it looks great!

Joining the sleeve to the body.  On the sleeve I did a purl row before casting off. Then when you sew the sleeve to the body you get a bit of a design feature I like both some texture and a bit of color.

The sweater before the button band.  One of the design features I love is the Latvian Braid.  This technique is fairly easy to learn if you just follow the directions to a "T".  I was able to get both sides mirrored as well as the back.

The 2 needle bind off after tossing out the icord worm look.

The button band was knitted on one long needle, with mitered corners.

Here is the sweater which is now off the needles but in need of finish work.  Ends need to be weaved in, buttons sewn on, body and sleeves hemmed and then a nice block.

Yarn:  I used Bartlett Yarn for this sweater.  This yarn  can be purchased form the company or from Schoolhouse Press.  I am a pretty traditional knitter.  I like 100% wool for almost everything.  I like yarn that has "ganas" a Spanish word for balls/toughness meaning it is a workhorse yarn.  It may feel a bit rough at first but with blocking and wearing it becomes very soft.  This type of yarn hardly pills if at all.

I love color work and Aran sweaters.  I don't like lace!  I am in awe of lace knitters.

This sweater is called Mixed Berries.  This is what I named it.  I love berries and my work usually has a connection to the outside world.  The thoughts behind this sweater is the green is the plants that berries grow on.  The raspberry and blue color represent raspberries (my favorite), blueberries, and huckleberries that poke out from the green leafy plants they grown on.

Reverse Migration, Biking and Hiking

Every year in May for the past seven years we go on what I like to call "The Reverse Migration." We leave often a still semi-frozen tundra, an ocean with varying degrees of sea ice behind, and head south to Montana.  Once back south in Montana, we are home for a few months during our summer holiday.  It is time for family, friends, hiking, biking, and knitting.  We are now mostly over major construction and we have more time for "Summer "Fun!"

The major actors in Summer Fun are: Tally who is a half Labrador half Weimaraner mix.  She was given to us by a family in Alaska.  She will be four this October.  Tally is very much a puppy still and we are pretty convinced she will be this way well into old age.  Her favorite words are: go and treat.
 
Sadie will be five June 1st. She came to us from one of the best animal shelters ever in my opinion.  Rimrock Humane Society is located around the Billings area. I say around as they don't have a physical shelter but rather foster homes in the area.  Sadie was with them the longest and had a recorded of destruction.  We wanted a dog for skijoring to go with Tally.  Sadie seemed like the perfect match.  Two years ago we headed to Billings to see if Tally and her got along. They hit it off great!  Sadie has been a dream boat!  She is half Weimaraner and half Akbash.  What the heck is an Akbash?  That was my first question as well.  The Akbash breed comes from Turkey and is a guardian dog.  Sadie loves to let you know something has changed in our world and almost always barks when meeting a new dog.  Sadie is very friendly after the first bark and meeting.  She is intimidating, big, strong, and my companion.  Both our dogs are well loved by us and we are thrilled to have them in our lives.

Tally is all black and has a full tail.  Sadie has the white chest, four white paws and a docked tail. Lupin Lake

The main character is Christian my dear husband who is just wonderful!  He is also a great photographer and has a good eye for seeing things I often miss.  Many of the photos in this blog will be from his camera. 

Biking: Haskill Basin

Haskill Basin is a nice area to mountain bike.  The trails are almost all older logging roads. There is a lot of running water for the dogs to cool off in as the summer heats up.  Most of the roads are gated so traffic is limited unless logging is going on in area by Stoltze Lumber.  Stoltze is generous and does allow people to use their land which I am forever thankful!  

"The Girls" as I like to call Tally and Sadie.

Trillium which I never seen before in a different color other than white.

Hiking: Lupine Lake

Lupine Lake is west of us and is an old time favorite trail of ours.  We headed out there yesterday late in the afternoon for a hike.  We started and ended in rain which is normal at this time of the year.  The Flathead Valley is green, lush, and beautiful.  What many people don't realize is it is green here because it does rain often.  We did see some fresh bear scat on both our bike ride and hike.  This is all normal as well as we are in bear country.  

  

Greetings!

Sadie and I skiing at SBS Loop in April _13.

I have wanted to have a blog for years and have never gotten around to  creating a blog.  It is so easy! I have several blogs I follow.  I am a bit in awe of people who have maintained blogs that are interesting and up to date.  So why blog when there is facebook?  I placed myself on a self imposed facebook ban until August.  This way I will work on blogging and see what comes from my efforts.  

We were out playing around with a new camera which can shoot panorama.  Here I am on the tundra that I love and find so intriguing.