Bláithín Sweater--update

I have procrastinated long enough on Kate’s Sweater (Bláithín Sweater).  I will be pulling it out of the knitting bag at some point this weekend and figuring out where I am and what I need to do next.  I know, I am on the button band and miles of icord . . . which is why I am sure it is still in the knitting bag hiding from me as there is still a ton of work to do to be able to utter the word DONE!

Canyons and Ice: The Wilderness Travels of Dick Griffith Written by: Kaylene Johnson

I read a wonderful book over Christmas break. Canyons and Ice written by Kaylene Johnson. The book is about "The Wilderness Travels of Dick Griffith". All of the river rats out there should read about Dick Griffith's Grand Canyon travels before it was dammed (https://www.facebook.com/canyonsandice). If you are intrigued by Arctic travel/adventure you would enjoy this book. A big thanks to Robin who lent me this great read! I loved it! Robin, Dick was in fact a great friend of the late Jerry Dixon who skied to UNK. Jerry used to send us used ski gear when we were first trying to get skiing going here in Unalakleet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1467509345

There are several Independent book stores carrying this book as well and they are listed on the website above.

I have always love travel adventure books.  I am not sure why I am drawn to this genre, other than when I am inside, I can still enjoy someone else's adventures from a comfortable spot. I do know, I am drawn to these tough as nails adventurers who couldn't say NO and just had to go no matter how tough, remote, or challenging the under taking.

A few of my favorite quotes from the book by Dick Griffith:

"Life is like a bicycle. When you stop moving, you tip over." p. 242

" . . . All my life I avoided the 'what ifs' especially those made by friends, family, and parents.  The 'what ifs' impede moving forward and prevent one from taking risks." p. 246

"I have a life wish, not a death wish." p. 252

"The best thing about getting old is that it doesn't last very long." p.265

Saturday Sled Dog Race 12/20/14

Unalakleet is a mushing community and there are several active dog sled teams.  Their activity varies from year to year.  This year Norton Sound Sled Dog Club will be hosting and running the Paul Johnson Memorial Norton Sound 450 race in February.  I haven't asked but I am assuming this is why the club has more Saturday race participants this year.  These Saturday races help teams prepare for the up coming race.  These photos I took off of FaceBook and are from 12/20/14.  I took my elementary skiers over to watch a team start after ski practice.

Racers getting ready at the start which in on the slough.  Behind us is the Unalakleet check point for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race which comes through in March.  All those short people are the elementary skiers!

Musher heading up the Unalakleet River.

Mushers leaving the river ice.

This is actually a retired musher who jumped in to help a team.  He ran the Iditarod years ago and still helps his son with his teams.

The Tomten Adventure #1

The first Tomten is just about done!  I had to order some buttons and those should be here next week (I hope).  I went with some nice simple wooden buttons that I bought on Etsy and the bonus is I was able to get 50 of each design for a killer price!

These buttons came from Buttons Craft.  I like that they are simple, made out of wood and the price was perfect!  Another plus is you could use either side.

The first Tomten has come out great!  Two areas that I will change just a tad will be the arm hole depth and my gauge is really 4.5 sts to an inch so that will be adjusted on #2 which will be for the oldest of the grand nieces.

I am knitting a crochet button band which I really like!  I like the ease, and texture this simple button band offers.  I really could not bring myself to knitting an icord!

I did line the inside cuffs with Ultra Alpaca and the icord on the top of the collar is the same nice Alpaca yarn.

Tomten a Rather HUGE Under Taking

I have a niece who I just love and I also am rather taken by the fact that she doesn't want to raise her family in the traditional middle of the road way.  I am very proud of her efforts in today's world to try to break the mold and step out in a different direction.  I give her and her family a lot of credit. I know it isn't easy and I know it is very challenging for them.  This winter they had all intentions to be on their land and living there off the grid as they get ready to build.  Things didn't work out as they had hoped.  They were able to move into a yurt and make some adjustments to their goal.

My goal is to make sure they have enough 100% WOOL to stay warm up in the mountains on the Olympic peninsula.  They have hats, fingerless mittens, and some of my older knitted socks that felted and were a bit of an experiment which make for great kid slippers in my mind and lucky in theirs as well!

Back to the Tomten Project:  This knitted jacket/sweater is one I have wanted to knit forever!  I have loved the simple design and the high functionality of this sweater.  I have always thought of it as the going out to the barn to work type of garment.  Now if only, I had a barn, and flock of sheep to go with my half Akbash, Sadie, the guardian dog . . . awh would life be for ever perfect!

The photo is from Schoolhouse Press Pattern #19

Since my niece and her girls are in a rather cold, damp place I figured they each needed a Tomten!  Thus the rather HUGE UNDERTAKING on my part but one I am loving.  FOUR, yes that is right FOUR Tomtens!  THREE of which will be kids and one adult.  I have so much yarn in the stash that is left over from projects that I am almost finished with the first one.  I Tomtens in garter sts just eat up yarn which is just perfect for stash busting.

I am trying to figure out the decreases for sleeves. What does 13.5 inches of sleeve length really look like when one is knitting a Tomten as the body is a bit of the sleeve length? 

Some photos to show the progress of Tomten #1.

I am using yarn from Schoolhouse Press Rangeley Wool.  I like adding a slip sts into the color work to give a nice transition between color rounds.

Lower body color work.

The fronts and back are done and this is the sleeve opening.

The collar is completed and the sleeve sts have been picked up and knitted a bit.

A nice little detail is added to the lower sleeve area for a bit of eye pleasing texture.

Chunky Shetland Yarn a Gift!

My wonderful Aunt Kathy is a knitter and has been for years.  Once she told me if I ever became a teacher (she was a English teacher and HS counselor) to have hobbies or something in your life you can finish.  As a counselor she said, "You never know if a student goes off and finishes their dream."  She had a garden and knitted for years as those were her finished projects.

We have been back in touch again because of the inter-net and chatting about knitting and what not.  She had this chunky Shetland weight yarn and offered it to me as she wasn't going to ever use it.  I of course jumped at the chance to take this yarn off her hands.  100% Shetland anything sounds great to me!

I love the colors that will go with a wide variety and the chunky rustic feel.

There are two vests I have wanted to knit for years and this yarn will be perfect for these projects.  I envision the vests with an icord trim in blue.  One vest is called Lollie's Jerkin and I would change some of the design in this but generally it would look like this vest. The other is the classic rib warmer but this will have some modifications.  Both designes come from SchoolHouse Press my all time favorite designer families EZ, Meg and Cully.

Knitting, FOs (Finished Objects: for you non-knitters--if there is such a thing)

I have actually been knitting a lot this fall as my wrist is better and I can KNIT pain free!

I love this Baby Bootie pattern! I can not even guess how many of these have been given to little feet out there.  I knitted this pair this summer and then promptly lost them!  They did make it to Alaska and I just finished their trim.  They are for one cute little girl--stay warm little one!

Loch Lomond fingerless mitts: I knitted 5 pairs of these this year!  This pair was for my niece's friend as an exchange for some of her excellent homemade goat milk soap.

No Bad Weather Knit Along {A.K.A: NBW KAL}

From mid-October a much needed update  (Dec 14, 2014)!

NBW sweater has had a few minor construction issues like:

*a few inches to large 
(I should add this had nothing to do with the pattern and everything to do with me picking the wrong size as I have gotten a bit smaller and not larger!)

One of the best things I have ever learned about knitting was/is use a tape measure all the times to check your work!  The next thing I have learned is to once and awhile place your work on yarn or a couple circular knitting needles, gently steam block and measure you work.  Never under estimate the importance of a tape measure EVER!

 and 

*I didn't like the knitted hem I was planning on using:

As far as the construction and design of the hem went that was spot on.  The issue was I wasn't done with the design and the hem would have been to deep.  Thus one more reason to frog and just use the intended ribbing.

SO I started over once again!  Many people freak out about starting over and I really have given up on the knitting freak out sessions.  The reason being is one I do get to knit more, but the main reason is knitting mistakes are really pretty easy to fix.

I really enjoy color work as you always feel like you are making great progress!

This sweater is now done and has been worn a lot already.  I knitted this sweater with the idea that it would be worn as one of my many layers when I go out skiing here in the far north.  I have found as crazy as this sounds that wool is really the best insulator for the cold weather I ski in on a regular basis here.

Done!  I did change the collar a bit and knitted a folded over hem for the inside of the collar.  This was casted-off and sewn down which gives a nice stretch to the collar neck area. (Pre-blocking)

Excuse the rather big hair as the wind was coming in from the east behind me.  The neck is still on needles a rather nice needle necklace effect all pre-blocking.

Here is the finished, blocked sweater in action!  The No Bad Weather Pattern is available at: Knit 'N Needle and the 100% Merino PDS superwash worsted weight yarn is available from my Favorite Yarn Shoppe as well!

I am very happy with the end product, I love the colors and the easy wash-ability of this yarn.  

October 8th, 2014 First Snow

Looking south form First Hill and you can see ice on the river with a slight dusting of snow.  Snow on the hills beyond our colorful tundra world is transforming to gray and then to the white of winter!

Now will I be able to ski on my birthday?? Always hopeful!

October 8th the first day of snow here in Unalakleet.  I always get a kick out of kids who are so excited to see snow here as their world is pretty much consumed with winter.  Yet when those first snow flakes start to fall we are all so excited. 

September 27, 2014 First Frost! & No Bad Weather (NBW) Fall Knit Along (KAL)

The first sign that winter is truly on its way!

There is nothing like waking up early, to some late for me 6:30, on a Saturday morning to sky full of stars, and crisp fall air.   What?  Is that ice on the puddle?  I tentatively stick the toe of my Bean boot into the puddle hoping, wishing to hear the wonderful sound of ice cracking and what do I hear? Yes, ice cracking under the toe of my boot!  Northern Lights dancing in the sky, plus the lights of a barge in Norton Sound heading south before things really start to freeze up for winter.

One of the many joys of living in rural Alaska are the body parts your dogs get to either find and hope to bring into the house or the parts they love to roll on/in.  Tally was so thrilled with this wonderful find the other morning!  Nope---we are not keeping it!  It will be heading back to the beach where I am sure it came from today. 

The tundra is actually fading now to just browns and muted green lichen.  Fall has come and now we move into the rather dullness of browns and grays until winter arrives to blanket my world in white.  This tundra plant I love!  It is such a rich red and it really does look this red!

Tally enjoying an after school romp on the tundra in earlier September. 

 

My girl Sadie!

 

 

 

A recent batch of smoked salmon. Smoked with cherry and spicy seasoning added.

 

 

 

   

    

No Bad Weather (NBW) Fall Knit Along (KAL)

I have been working on my NBW KAL with the ladies from the Knit 'N Needle in Whitefish, Montana online through Ravelry.  This is a wonderful design and the yarn from the shoppe is great!  PDS worsted yarn is just full of life, with rich robust colors which is becoming a favorite of many knitters!

Like all projects I seem to always have to start the body about 3 times until I seem to work out some issues.  I have pretty much resigned myself to this knitting fact.  I casted-on a sleeve and knitted that up just fine.  The color is rich and deep which I really like in my yarn.  I casted-on for the body using a long tail cast-on and with two colors.  I decided instead of a ribbing I would do a knitted hem.  This is why I like to cast-on with 2 colors as I can pick up sts. easily having a contrasting color. 

That green purl like bump is where I will be picking up sts. to knit the hem which will be knit in a PDS sport weight yarn.  The lighter yarn will add less bulk and pull in the bottom just a bit.  This will be done later.

I thought, I would do a bit of added color work in the lower section.  I picked a design that I thought would be perfect.  It would have what I thought would be snow and hearts.  This would have made the statement that I love bad weather.  Well . . . it make the statement that this is way to much color work and your hem will be HUGE!  I decided to frog this section . . . oops forgot to mention: I had already frogged once before as I had twisted my yarn when joining the first round!

The reason for the color work is to have a nice line to sew the knitted hem to when I cast-off the hem on the inside.

Back to the drawing board.  I picked a much smaller simpler design of color work which would represent hills, drifts, and snow.  I knitted this color work only to realize that . . . Do you see those 2 ^%^%$%^*^* sts  there . . . yes 2 red sts side by side!!!!!!  Yes in the first round close to the beginning!  &*)(*&%$#$%%^

I was able to get this frogged again, and knitted yet again.  Now on a positive note look at how great that PDS worsted weight yarn is holding up to 3 froggings.  I will admit  I wanted to toss the whole thing into the trash!  However, I nicely reminded myself this is not the first time nor the last time knitting will humble me!  I took a few deep breathes, swore a bit and like E.Z. would say "Knit On!"

I have been knitting for over 20 years and yes even those who have been knitting for years (decades) still makes mistakes and still find new ways of making mistakes.  To new knitters out there just try and relax it is fine to make mistakes, learn how to frog, laugh a bit at yourself and then KNIT ON!

No Bad Weather KAL (Knit Along)

My yarn arrived today for the Knit Along (KAL) I have joined through the Knit 'N Needle yarn shoppe in Whitefish, Montana.  We were quick to get the girls out on the tundra for a photo shoot with my new PDS worsted yarn when we got home from work today at 6 p.m.  I love the colors in person and am looking forward to casting on a sleeve for a swatch.  This hand dyed yarn is from a very talented independent yarn dyer in Whitefish.

The colors I picked, as always have some kind of theme or purpose in "Nancy's World" and this yarn is no exception.  The green (Douglas Fir) is for evergreen trees which I especially adore when covered in snow.  The red-ish color (petroglyph) is for the fall colors on the tundra as we transition into winter, and the white (beargrass) is of course for one of my favorite things: SNOW!

The No Bad Weather Knit Along will be starting officially on September 14th.  It will be hosted on the Ravelry site. For you non-knitters (is there such a person yikes!) think FaceBook for knitters, only a lot better than facebook could ever be! On Ravelry you would just have to join the Polka Dot Sheep Publications group.