Sea Ice, Fog, & Bláithín Sweater

It is May here in my remote spot in Alaska and spring in the rest of the world.  We are transitioning to spring with many small hiccups along the way.  I think it is a bit ironic, I am working on a sweater in Irish that means "little flower."  The sea is once again covered in sea ice, it is cold, damp, and foggy---I mean thick pea soup fog  due to the sea ice.  The winds have been coming in from the southwest causing the sea ice to be blown back our way.  My tundra walks with the dogs makes me feel like I am in Ireland or Scotland walking the hills with my flock of sheep as fog rolls in and out.

Here is the first flower I have seen out on my tundra walks. It is known as the "woolly lousewort " or "bumble-bee flower."

My Bláithín sweater which I have been calling Ol'Navy now has the sleeves joined to the body.

Color Work yahooo---lets hear it for some color work finally!  These center stitches will be for the sandwich steek.

Color work schematic--my first round will be orange flowers, the middle round will be blue flowers, and the last round will be yellow flowers.

I love working a color yoke after hours of one solid color it is such a treat to really be able to see your progress as the color work motif changes.

May 17th sea ice, with a nice low ceiling for visibility which makes it is hard for planes to fly.  This photo is looking north up towards Blueberry Hills.

Jumbled up mess of sea ice that  has returned due to the winds coming in form the southwest.

Cookies & Pizza

Cookies

I am always searching for a killer cookie recipe.  I love cookies that are crunchy and chewy, and not over the top sweet or gooey.  Yesterday, I baked up these wonderful Molasses Ginger Spice Snap Cookies from the blog FarmGirl Fare. She great recipes and I will be trying more of her ideas. If you use Weight Watchers or one of the point tracking programs this recipe has 176 points. However don't freak out!  I used a small scoop and made 5 dz cookies yesterday and froze the rest of the dough. I am pretty sure I will be able to bake another 2dz cookies which will bring the cookies in at 2 pts. each.

Pizza

For dinner last night we had Christian's wonderful Pizza.  We used a white/whole wheat flour for the crust and his secret ingredient is to add a dark beer to the dough.  For toppings we have used anything and everything from pesto sauce and salmon to a more traditional pepperoni and cheese.

We also use cast-iron pizza pans which really help to bake a great dough.

Some of the toppings.

A work of art!

This pizza slicer is the best we have ever used. It has a rocker so you place it on the pizza and rock it back and forth for a great sliced pizza. 

Bláithín Sweater (Bláithín is an Irish name meaning "little flower") AKA Ol'Navy

Bláithín Sweater is designed by Kate Davies who I think is just a brilliant knit designer.  This project was started a bit ago and interrupt often by my inability to stay focused on just one project.  Since knitting is my way of relaxing, in my world, that means you knit what every want when you want.  Over my knitting years I have come to accept that I jump from project to project and back again---why fight it just go with the knitting flow!

I am excited to say I am back knitting my Bláithín Sweater!  Today, I will be finishing up the second sleeve, steam blocking both sleeves and body.  This way I will get an accurate measurement of all the pieces before I join them together to start my favorite part the yoke colorwork.  I did modify the design a bit as I didn't want any pockets or the sweater to flare out on the sides.

Off to knit!  I will be steam blocking this sweater to try on before I continue with the yoke work.

Mittens, Dog, My Tundra World

I just blocked a pair of Snow Ghost mittens last night.   As I casted on my second mitten this is what I told my dear friend and fellow blogger Wool and Words:

"Knitting, I did cast on my next mitten and started the rather rhythmic color work which is a relaxing little jaunt.  It is nice when color work just flows and pours out of your needles!  Plus, the yarn I am using is such a dream to work with so nice on your hands and it invites you to keep knitting."

My completed Snow Ghost Mittens which will go into the gift box for some lucky person.

Photos and more information on the Snow Ghost Mitten 

DOG!

I have this wonderful dog named Sadie.  She is a very unusual mix of a Weimaraner and Akbash.  Sadie was a rescue dog from one of those wonderful shelters who has no shelter but rather houses all their animals in foster homes.  I can never say enough great things about Rim Rock Humane Society in Billings, Montana.  Sadie had quite a story as she had a destructive nature, she is rather big, and a bit stubborn.  We have now had Sadie for 3 years and she is such a love.  Our two dogs get along wonderfully, and we can not imagine a world without them by our sides.  Sadie has had one heck of a year with injuries.  I have learned this year dogs heal very fast!  We live in a rural, off road village in Alaska.  What does this mean: we have no vet, no doctor (until about 2 mos ago), and if you need serious medical attention you need to get on a plane and fly out of here.  This means you hope you don't die on the plane or some other major issue occurs.  We basically try not to think about it until you or your animal get hurts.

This year Sadie slice a pad on her front foot open.  We learned to use super-glue, moleskin and a dog bootie to heal this injury.  Shortly after this was taken care of she was bit by a sled dog and had a hole in her side.  This was healed by sticking a kotex pad on the inside of a dog jacket.  The hole got air and was able to drain and she could not lick it.  Then is March she broke or dislocated her outside toe on her rear foot.  Again rest and a dog bootie helped to heal this injury.  The last and I really hope it is the LAST was she fell out of the 4-wheeler.  I was going a bit fast but I hit a few bigger than I thought bumps and she fell out of the back.  I was devastated! Her high center of balance tossed her out and I could not throw on the brakes as the other dog would have gone out too.  Once I got her back to me she was limping, but had a good size gash under her right eye.  Poor girl!  Dogs trust us so much and then this happens which was all my fault!  I was so angry with myself and so scared for Sadie.

Here is our poor girl in recovery.

Sadie doing great and ice hopping for fun this week.