Osceola How Reversible Cable Hat By: Linette Grayum

Hats are just a great knitting project!  The knitter doesn't have to knit up a matching partner as in socks or mittens.  Cast on, knit away, cast off, soak and block and you are ready to go.  If you are just learning to knit hats are a great place to practice new techniques and skills.  A hat isn't a HUGE project like a sweater.  The knitter gets a finished project rather quickly and wa-laaa success!

I recently did a test knit for designer Linette Grayum who can be found on Ravelry. LinetteG, as she is known on Ravelry, has a nice collection of designs.  For you shawl knitters I would highly recommend stopping by her page to see her designs/patterns.  She also has several hat designs as well.

Osceola Reversible Cable Hat

I loved this hat right from the beginning.  I learned a new cast on technique that I will certainly be using again.  The cable work was a blast to knit, and easy to follow.  I did place markers for each cable panel.  I always do this or I just plain forget to stop and think about where I am when working either in colorwork or cables.   The pattern is well written with space to write notes.  I give LinetteG five stars for her Osceola Hat.

Harrisville Highland Yarn purchased at the Knit'N Needle.

I knitted a small but due to my tension it is a very small small. his hat was given to a wonderful little gal.

How cute is this hat!

Didn't I say this was a cute hat and look at my stellar model and owner!  She will be able to use this hat for some time.

Cable work in progress with markers for each panel.

Hat #2 that I knit with one size larger needles to get gauge. I am not sure which cable side I like more. 

Osceola Hat was knitted for this wonderful art teacher, glacier guide,ski coach, bike loving, skijorer, adventurer seeking friend!

Proud Auntie of Knit Worthy Girls!

As many of you know from following the blog I have some very knit worthy girls in my life.  "The Knit Girls" as I call them rock the knit worthiness world!  I knit and they wear everything I knit!  I can seriously attest to their knit worthiness!  I recently received a worn sweater back to be from Knit Girl #1.  This sweater was repaired once last spring as the icord cuff trim was wearing out and this was done at a local yarn shop in Port Townsend.  I got a call saying the elbows had holes and it would be going back tot he yarn shop.  On Friday the sweater arrived here in the village as it was not getting repaired as the person who once was doing the repair work has moved on.  I was thrilled to get the sweater back and to have a serious look at this sweater's wear and tear. 

Knit Girl #1: wears this sweater all the time! I do mean all the time!  Wool will wear in places, the sweater is stained, but I am thrilled. I know this sweater is loved and worn! 

The first job was to assess the worn out bits. Both elbows had holes one more than the other showing that right elbow spends a good deal of time leaning on desk and table tops. The left elbow only has a bit of wear but still, a small hole was present. One pocket had the potential for a disaster, I was able to head that off.  Buttonholes were snugged backup. To help reinforce the elbows, I remembered that EZ (for those who don't know of EZ this would be Elizabeth Zimmermann) had heart shape knit patches she designed for just this purpose.  I dug through all my EZ books and located the pattern in her book the Knitting Workshop a wonderful knitting tool/resource I can highly recommend.

Now one thing you should all know I jokingly call EZ the knitting astrophysicist.  Her brain never ever worked like the rest of us and she was a brilliantly talented designer.  I am continually amazed at her work.  Off I jump into casting on a heart patch . . . right away I am in over my head and knit up a mess!  I quickly go to Ravelry and the Zimmermann's group to see if others had an issue with this little pattern.  Well, of course, I am not alone.  Meg, EZ's daughter, pointed me in the right direction with her reply to another knitter.  I also pulled out the revised Knitting Workshop and saw that Cully had more detailed instructions.  I spent most of yesterday working on heart patches.  Mission accomplished!

Knit Girl #1's Kate Davies' Bláithín sweater is now washed, 98% repaired,  and on the blocking board. All I have left to do is to sew on the elbow patches and send Knit Girl #1 her sweater.

Worn elbow

Small hole

Top photo now repaired

The 1st disaster of a heart patch and off to Ravelry to find a few answers to solve the mystery of an EZ heart!

Using the newer Knitting Workshop and solving the mysteries of the heart patch!

Not blocked or anything but it looks like the hearth patch will work just fine.

Very worn & loved sweater.  I am so thrilled my work is used 110% of the time.

Off for a nice long soak in wool wash.

Hearts blocked and drying.

Washed and blocked . . .

We were just out ont he tundra and last weekend we were skiing right at this spot.  We have had rain, winds, and highs in the upper 30ºF.  A bummer but snow will be back soon enough.  The Nulato Hills south of us are covered in snow!

Miss Tally ready for the ride home! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG you are now over 4 YEARS OLD!

I am sure this is just an age thing but I have very mixed feelings about social media.  I even get caught up in all the buzz. I find myself just wasting time looking at various "things" realizing I am just wasting my precious time on earth.

Don't get me wrong sites like Pinterest are a life saver for classroom teachers! I love Pinterest.  Need an art idea within seconds you have great ideas on any topic out there.  I am totally blown away by the creativity people have and how willing people are to share their great ideas.

Ravelry is basically FaceBook for knitters!  I love the forums, access to patterns, yarn, help, you name it you have all of this and more on Ravelry. I do have to watch my time as you can really go down some serious rabbit holes.

For awhile, I was using Twitter which I will say I like far more than Facebook.  The best thing about Twitter was that I only had 1-3 people I actually knew in real life.  I was able to get ski racing results instantly which was great if you are a Nordic/Biathlon skier/coach and no one hardly covers your sports. I also found some killer sites and people who are just rocking the athlete outside world: climbers, hikers, runners, paddlers, endurance folks just people who don't have to use a ball to have a sport. One great find was the Women's Outdoor Alliance.  Once again, I was using Twitter too much for my liking.  I still do find Twitter motivational as I followed various athletes that do things I feel are important and worthwhile.  I am deactivating Twitter and just saying goodbye to my account there.  I was using Twitter too much!

Facebook  . . . just don't get me started as I have to use it for skiing . . . but it is a serious love/hate relationship.  I do sign off after the ski season and I return to it once I am back up north.  I find it to be the village radio which is a helpful tool.  I have to really monitor myself on the ol'FB!

Then there is the blog which I truly like the most!  I have for years been looking at changing over to Wordpress and even had a site set up thinking I would move over to it at some point.  This morning I deleted that site.  Once again BLOGGER will keep me!  I like the simple format and I find BlOGGER really has all the bells and whistles I need to blog.  I blog mostly for myself and enjoy the challenge of forcing myself to write. I love that people stop by to look at photos and to read a bit about my world.  I really enjoy comments . . . I mean who doesn't!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, 

BLOG 

you are now over 

4 YEARS OLD!

Happy New Year & Welcome 2017!

Good Morning 2017!  

Another new year is upon us. I always like a new beginning.  I think this may be why I love the mornings so much!  A new start in life daily . . . who could ask for more?  I write an email to my dear friend Lynn most mornings and I often feel she gets all the good stuff in those letters. Somehow, I want that writing to be present in my blog. 

Here it is January 2nd.  I am not a person so much for resolutions but rather challenges and changes for myself are a good thing.  

Two years ago I gave up wheat and have done well with that challenge.  I think about eating it every once in a while but truly I know I will never go back to that unhealthy food.  The main reason is I feel GREAT NOT EATING WHEAT!  I would recommend giving it a try but first please read Wheat Belly and Dr. William Davis work and be educated about this choice.  I would also recommend Dr. David Perlmutter work as well. Be well informed and educated before you give this HUGE lifestyle change a try.  One of my goals for this year is to get back on track with this healthy lifestyle by watching the carbs I eat as I don't keep this under control like I should.  I am presently cutting back on sugars as much as I can and trying my best to stay away from the NO-NO carbs.  I love eating healthy organic food, foods that are not processed and from a bag, box or who knows where.  I want my foods to be organic, non-GMOs, and I want to know where it comes from!  I know what the food industry and big business have done to us!  All you have to do is look around . . . it is disgusting!  

Next on the "To Do List" is to continue the daily workouts.  I love this routine and it works for me!  Five days a week I head to my classroom to use the SkiErg a great piece of exercise equipment from Concept Two. This equipment is for nordic skiing and I have been impressed with how great it works.  It has certainly helped to strengthen my upper body don't be fooled!  The SkiErg works your whole body!  If you have never used exercise equipment from Concept Two I would highly recommend taking the time to try some of their pieces.  I also include a simple 8-10 minute sit-up routine and a yoga routine for my back.  After work, I ski with the ski team or on my own just about every day in the winter.  I always get to 100 ski days a year but am always trying to push my days to 125 or more on skis.

Knitting:  I need to use up my stash as I have a healthy amount of yarn that needs to just be knitted!  I hope to knit another Lopi sweater for myself in an upcoming KAL on Ravelry.  The other sweater I hope to knit this year is a Norwegian as I call this style.  This sweater I will be designing myself and it will be a traditional Norwegian sweater. I have some ideas for motifs which will need incorporate snow, northern lights, and may be some kind of pine tree . . . I also have these amazing buttons with cross-country skiers on them a true treasure!

Blogging is something I have ended up really enjoying!  I have said many times I am not a great writer, but I do enjoy blogging.  I often think of moving this blog over to WordPress and I never follow through on the migration . . . still thinking about this possibility.

I went back to last year to see my Goals & Challenges from 2016 which are concise.  I will just leave them here and add 2017!

Goals & Challenges for 2016 & 2017

1. Continue with the No Wheat and No Grains eating, try to eliminate corn especially if it is not organic, and reduce meal size and carbs.

 
2. Learn more about Wheat Free/Grain Free and eating and improving good gut health.

3. Ski, hike, bike, walk, morning workouts---stay as consistently & active as possible!

4. Read more!

5. Keep work simple and be efficient and effective.

 
6.  Remember it is often best to keep one's mouth closed more often than not!

7.  Certainly not least but be positive and spend as much time as I can with my wonderful husband and our two fantastic dogs!

Christian and I at the Christmas tree lighting 2016.

Sadie, my girl!  I love this 4-legged companion of mine she has taught me a lot over the years!

Tea and knitting . . . life is grand!

Current sweater which will be done today or tomorrow . . . Knit On!

Shetland Oo and Life on the Tundra

Shetland Oo wool textiles work is a recently released book by Kate Davies and her husband Tom Barr.  Kate is one of my favorite bloggers/writers, designers, and yarn producers.  I found Kate years ago through a knitting friend on Ravelry.  She suggested Kate's blog and right away I was hooked!  At that time, Kate had recently suffered a stroke and was working her way back from this horrific time in her life.  

I was taken right away by Kate. She was writing about her battle to regain her life and health.  Her world was turned upside down! Yet, Kate was able to grab onto the fiber she loved (wool) and pull herself upright in a new direction.  This was not an easy battle, but I learned a lot from her blog posts.  The key point I learned was never ever to judge a person and their struggle to move at all, but rather to lend a hand or a kind word of encouragement. It wasn't that I was judging people (just having a hard time finding the right words here) but Kate's writing just made me realize how important it is to see the whole person and to cheer that person on with compassion.  Kate struggled and fought hard and I can never imagine her journey.

In the process, Kate seemed to have discovered many new talents.  As an outsider looking in on Kate's accomplishments, I can not think that the stroke unleashed a Kate of her dreams or new dreams.  

If you are not familiar with Kate Davies work I can do nothing but suggest you take a look at her blog and her work.  Like myself, you may have found a new cyber-friend! 

I was taken by the fact she was in Scotland and as we know all great wool and many great knitters come from Scotland.  She has a black lab named Bruce.  I have two dogs each mixed with Weimaraner.  Tally is also mixed with a lab and Sadie is mixed with an Akbash.  Kate knits. I knit. Kate walks the hills of Scotland. I walk the beach, tundra, and hills of Alaska.  In the summer I hike the mountains of Montana.  

I have been very impressed with Kate's detailed knit patterns and her knitting/fiber research.  I have only just started reading Shetland Oo. I am enjoying her new book immensely. In between skiing/coaching, trail work, and knitting, I will read snippets with a nice cuppa tea! 

Thank you, Kate, Tom, and Bruce for another wonderful read about Real 100% Wool!

On needles socks, plain old vanilla socks using PDS Tender Foot from Montana's Knit 'N Needle in Whiskey Spring.

The girls a bit wore out after a ski practice that turned rather cold fast.  This often happens to us up here in the north.  Never worry they are in booties and jackets.  

I was greeted by this at 5:50 a.m. We had howling winds all night 35 to 52 mph.  Thus the snow inside the front porch or many of you would call this the mud room. Despite our efforts to keep the snow outside, we end up with a drift inside.  Nothing like shoveling out the inside of your house to get outside with the dogs!