Where does the time go?

Dear Blog,

I am very behind on posting and I have a long list of topics to write about to get you up to date.  We are back in Alaska for another year of work.  We have been getting ready for the new year with the normal meetings, and classroom organizing that goes on every year.

I am extremely excited to be back in second grade as I have not taught this age group for several years.  I find second grader to be a wonderful time in child development/learning.

Since being back in the village the weather has been wonderful with some very warm sunny days and also days of rain.  I am one that really enjoys the constant changing weather that Alaska offers.

Stay tuned blog you have not been forgotten!

Wool-n-Ski

My Local Yarn Shop the Knit 'n Needle

Don't you just love your local yarn shop!  I know, I love my favorite local shop and for me it is truly a local shop.  I just have to walk out my front door and walk 3.5 blocks right to the front of door of Knit 'n Needle.  Not only is there a great sales staff but this warm cozy shoppe is full of great yarns and accessories.  If you are a fan of Ravelry they have a wonderful online group.  If you are saying to yourself "What the heck is Ravelry?" Don't worry just click on the link and check it out.  As many of us describe Ravelry to the non-knitting population (is there such a thing) we often say it is the facebook for knitters only so much more!

I wanted to include some of the great items I purchase this year at the Knit 'n Needle's annual sale.  One of my favorite purchases which I am just loving are my Addi Click needles.  I have had other interchangeable needles but of course typical of Addi these needles out shine the rest.

Addi Click needles--oh how I love knitting with these needles!

Another great item that I purchased although it was not on sale is this book.  I just love 100% wool and learning about fiber.  I have been wanting this book for some time.  I figure it will be great reading when I am up north for the school year.

My yarn purchases are below.  The GINA is for the KAL that I have yet to start.  The shoppe is hosting a Knit Along (KAL) that I really need to jump in on!  Crown Jewel Knit Along  is in progress but don't ever feel afraid to join in late to this group!  The other yarns to below are purchases for the stash.  Next is some Schoeller + Stahl Limbo superwash to add to the "hat stash department."  That beautiful rusty color is of course Malabrigo Twist in sunset.  Who in their right mind can pass up Malibrigo on sale? Last but not least is a wonderful organic cotton by Blue Sky Organic.

The yarn below is for another pair of Northman Mittens which was a winter KAL from earlier this year.  I will be using the idea of the Northman Mitten for the mittens I am planning.  However, the color motif  will be altered from the Norwegian Rose/snowflake to a skier.  Below, I have Ultra Alpaca from Berroco for the outer part of my Northman Mittens (blue and white).  The lining for these mittens will be out of the middle yarn which is actually a nice bold magenta from Blue Sky called Brushed Suri.

Fiber-Friends and Seattle

Woolnwords and Woolnski at our annual knit & fiber retreat!

In June my dear fiber-friend from Unalakleet and I met up in Seattle for a fiber visit.   Since "woolnwords" has moved on from UNK (as it is locally known up north) we decided we would meet up every year some place to knit, explore yarn shops and 'fiber related things."  I felt a bit like the Country Mouse (from Alaska/Montana) visiting the City Mouse (who grow up outside of Seattle and now lives in eastern Washington).  The trip was wonderful!

City Mouse completely comfortable with city travel! I must say traveling by ferry is still one of my all time favorite ways to travel.

Leaving Seattle behind as we head out to Bainbridge Island.

One of the first places we were off to was a nice outside cafe.  This is one of those small pleasures one craves when you live in a rural, remote, Alaskan village.  We had to go do this together as we were never able to treat ourselves to this type of a place in UNK.

Do you see those orange boxes on the shelf in the distances?  You may ask what is the big deal about those boxes?  Those boxes are one of the many little things that makes our lives in the far north wonderful!  Once a week in UNK we receive  fresh box of produce from Full Circle Farms.  Here in the Seattle area they also make delivers.   I can not tell you how wonderful it has been having fresh organic produce delivered to us in the village each week for over 5 years.  Nor can I tell you enough how wonderful it is to work with Full Circle Farms!   They are extremely professional and stand by their produces' quality. 

Once coffee and baked goods were out of the way we were off to explore a wonderful Bainbridge Island yarn shop.  The Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.   Churchmouse is a wonderful shop full or colorful yarns and knowledgeable staff.  They also have a classic collection or teas and accessories.

I am always looking for a yarn that represents the place I am visiting.  Seattle and Bainbridge were full of flowers blooming their summer wardrobe. I purchased this pattern and yarn below.  One has to agree the linen stitch has a wonderful way of showing off color with texture.  This scarf is a nice knit even if one has to cast-on 450 stitches!  Yes 450 stitches!  I thought OMG no way!  Casting on went smoothly and placing stitch markers every 50 stitches makes this process a breeze.

The yarn I am using is Koigu.  I have never knitted with this yarn before but I am enjoying the wonderful rich color ways I picked.  I truly feel like I am knitting a garden full of blossoms.

A few little tricks I am using to help keep the yarns organized are:

1. zip lock bags for the three different color ways

2. each bag is labeled with A, B, C to follow the pattern row labeling

3.  the rows are on each bag as there is a six row repeat

Progress is being made on this scarf:

Knitting away on the scarf on a recent forest service cabin camping, hiking, mountain bike trip, with knitting in between all the activity.

 The Next stop on our trip was to the Nordic Heritage Museum.  The reason for the visit was to see all things Nordic.  We have wanted to visit the museum for years to see their knitted items.  My words of advice if you are most interested in fiber and needle work is to start at the top of the museum.  The top floor has a dedicated room to each Nordic country.

 All photos were taken without flash.  Below is the classic Norwegian National dress and Setesdal sweater. Not only are we fans of this style of sweater but we both love the stitching/embroidery that is incorporated in these sweaters.

Woolnwords working on her Setesdal style sweater on the Bainbridge Island Ferry.  She always uses EZ's percentage system plus she is picking her own color work motifs from a variety of sources.

What the heck a table---I am hoping to have my FIL build us a dinning room table along these lines.

Biking and Paddle Boarding

We had a great day yesterday!  We all need to get out and enjoy what Montana has to offer during the summer.  We are right on the edge of a heat wave for Montana and luckily for us we have not gotten the higher temperatures that others have been recording.

Single track riding in the green.

Sadie cooling off as she always does-she will just lay right down in the stream and chill for a bit.

Christian cooling off as well after he fully submerged himself in the creek.

Sadie in her Ruffwear vest and I enjoying a hot afternoon on the river cooling off.

Tally sporting her wonderful Ruffwear life vest.  This great fitting vest has a handle which makes  it easy to get her onto the Versa board.

Heading home at the end of a great day outside in the sun!

Cooling off with Versa Boards and Dogs in Whitefish River

Recently we purchased used Versa Boards from my brother in law.  These boards are designed for fishing.  We love them as they are stable and can be used both while standing or sitting.  Plus, they have these wonderful seats we can use which raise us up a bit off the boards.  Right now our dogs and us are getting used to paddling the boards.  These boards are made out of very tough plastic which stands up well to the dogs claws.  The dogs are learning how to get on and off easily or at least in theory.  We were out on Whitefish River yesterday and we had a BLAST!

Sadie loves to just swim and spends most of her time in the river.  Tally is in and out of the river and goes from one board to the next non-stop in between chasing sticks!  They are using Ruffwear Life Jackets.  I highly recommend a life jacket for your dog(s)!  They can swim slowly in they want and don't need to be concerned about staying a float.  Like Sadie she just paddled away swimming here and there checking out the ducks.

Tally riding, and Sadie swimming away.

Whitefish River Sadie hitching a ride.

Sadie swimming along at her own relaxed pace due to her life jacket.

Cross-Country Ski Biathlon

During the winter months in Alaska, we coach a cross-country ski biathlon team.  Biathlon is a wonderful sport and the kids enjoy the challenge of marksmanship and skiing.  This wonderful promo video was just posted for the US Biathlon Team.  

If you are interested in finding out more about click here:  US Biathlon

90 Degrees Bike Ride

In the summer amongst all the great summer time activities I love biking.  I usually ride twice a day for the most part.  An early morning road bike ride on my very old Miyata 1000 touring bike.  

 

I cruise around Whitefish, Montana on the trail system and the back roads.  This ride is to get the blood pumping and to enjoy the greenery, mountains and this place I love.  As you can see this is not a serious road bike ride.  I have changed out my handle bars from drops to upright, tossed out the old toe clips and straps for a nice platform pedals.  I run errands with my panniers and my wonderful new handle bar bag by detours.


This bike ride is not about air temperature but rather about turns.  One of the areas I enjoy to ride around is farm land and true to farm land you have a lot of 90 degree turns.  Each turn one gets to view another part of the valley and the mountains.

Here is a smattering of 90 degree turn photos:

You might say why is this all a big deal the other 10 months of the year this is my world:

Early season skiing Oct. 2012 we call this "Tundra Cruising." 

Dec 2012 short days of daylight about 4.5 hours.

Checking drifts so we can groom once the wind stops blowing.

Groomer working hard.

Oh Sadie!

Groomer for nordic trails.

My love classic skiing.

Beach Unalakleet, Alaska April 2013.

May 2013

May 2013

As much as I love winter and skiing I do enjoy the green world too!