Twenty acres and NO sheep...

Only one child to drive about, thank goodness!

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:51:00 +0000

I've been lucky in my life.

While I do have two children, they are separated by eight years.

During their busy active years, I've only had to drive one child around at a time.

Props to everyone driving more than one child from activity to activity!

You are far far better people than I.

This is as busy as I care to be.

Particularly in the winter.

High School Ski Team.

Weekend Ski Development Team.

Weekend Indoor Soccer Games.

All of these activities occur at least 30 miles from our home.

This past weekend the race was at Wild Mountain.

Sunday soccer at the Soccer Blast.

Drive, Drive, Drive.

Luckily, Girl of the House has her driving permit.

She's eligible to take her drivers test in May.

On the knitting front, a fun little baby sweater for a coworkers baby girl.

Cascade Pacific - a washable wool and acrylic blend.

Cottage Creations Babies and Bears sweater.

Quite possibly my most favorite baby sweater to knit.

Quick and no seaming.

LOOK!

Two posts in January!

End of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Better late than never!

We headed out to Grand Targhee, WY for our annual ski trip over the last week of December 2011.

It was one of the few ski areas in the country that actually had snow.

We skied.

We snowshoed.

(is that a word?)

I had lots of road time for knitting.

Multnomah shawl

Ravelry link

Birthday Cowl (kindly modeled by Luna Frypan)

Ravelry Link

And I mean we had lots of road time as we drove to Grand Targhee.

And then drove to Denver to see Ben and Bekky!

Through NW Wyoming.

Through South Central Wyoming.

I love these windmills.

Had I mentioned Ben and Bekky were married in July?

No, I didn't think so.

It was marvelous!

They're living in Denver now and we miss them so much!

We spent a few days with them, celebrating the holiday and playing games.

Card games and xbox games. Yay for fun xbox kinect games!

2800 miles, 8 states, 10 days.

Sounds relaxing, doesn't it?

We enjoyed every minute.

Really!

Now.

Let's see if I can't keep a bit more up to date, eh?

on the four year plan

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:56:00 +0000

I had a trip to Boston last week (for work).

This allowed for plenty of airplane knitting time.

I dug out an old UFO.

Old, I tell you, OLD!

But I finally finished.

One ounce of silk caps that I dyed in 2007 and finished spinning in 2008.

It's funny how lace looks all scrunchy before blocking.

After blocking.

Finished size 8' x 6"

And worn!

Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits Summer 2007

MEA October 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Last weekend was the MEA school break in Minnesota.

We traveled to DeSoto, IL to meet with Harlan and Coleen. They live in Georgia. We tried to find a place in the middle to meet for the long weekend. We rented a cute log cabin in DeSoto, IL.

We fit in plenty of activities in the long weekend.

We visited several wineries on the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail.

We also visited an orchard.

We ate, drank yummy wines, cooked, played games, launched sky lanterns, shot slingshots, fished and geocached. (note the icky snake that put an end to our geocaching for the day)

I had lots of time to knit on the 650 mile trip.

I knitted and napped and relaxed.

Perhaps I got a bit too relaxed.

I worked on the second sleeve of Paul's sweater.

Can you see how much larger the right sleeve is, compared to the left?

Yeah, the gauge is a full stitch per inch off.

Well, I hadn't knit any part of his sweater twice yet...

I was able to get most of Bekky's sweater finished.

Just needs weaving in and clasps.

Now this sweater, I've knit almost twice in its entirety.

First it was too big.

Once I got the body size right, the sleeves were too small.

So I've knitted the body twice, and one sleeve twice.

It's worth it.

It looks terrific on her.

Once I get it blocked and clasped, I'll get a picture of her modeling it.

This sweater will be just in time.

Ben and Bekky are moving to Denver very soon!

Girl of the House is almost finished with classroom drivers education.

Paul had her out driving in the yard yesterday.

Permit test soon!

Life keeps moving.

Windmill

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Carleton College has a new windmill, easily visible from our deck.

Well, OK, it's not quite as close as it appears.

It's slightly less than a mile away.

I like the look of it.

Simple pleasures...

Luna Frypan!

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Somethings happened at our house.

It requires getting all my baskets up off the floor.

The contents are far too interesting.

(Note the messy green yarn.)

Luna Frypan.

4 months old.

Former Prairie's Edge Humane Society resident.

Lab/Bloodhound cross - but that's really just a guess.

Our big dog is 11, and he's beginning to slow down.

I want to keep a big dog as a running companion.

Luna will be ready in a year or so.

In the meantime, welcome to our zoo!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have basket reorganization to finish.

The kittens are down

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 28 May 2011 15:10:00 +0000

The kittens have come to ground. Mama cat Yasmine has placed them under the steps. They DO like to come out and nap in the sunshine - much better than being under the cool dark steps!

There was a question of how we knew the kittens were in the tree. We saw mama cat climbing the tree on a regular basis, so we had to wonder why?

I'd have loved to see her bringing those babies down, wouldn't you?

This year the babies have W names.

This is Willis.

This is Willow.

(Wyoming was too shy for a picture this morning.)

Kittens in a tree

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:49:00 +0000

We've got a mama cat that has figured out the safest place for her kittens.

16 feet up.

In an old squirrel nest in a tree hollow.

Three babies safe and warm.

Can't say I've ever seen that before...

Waitin' for the bus

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:37:00 +0000

Girl of the House this morning, waiting for the bus.

Isn't it great when you have a really good book?

Starting over

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Here's a last look for Bekky:

17 inches of warm Dale goodness.

Turns out, the only way this would fit tiny little Bekky is if she gained more than 50 pounds.
I think that's too much to ask, don't you?

I did some calculations when I started her sweater, as I needed to replace the Daletta yarn for the Heilo yarn. They have fairly different gauges.

Yeah, I miscalculated. Yeah, I knit and knit and knit, and didn't do any measuring.

Yeah, I was having fun!

Now that I'm ready to start the sleeves, I actually did some measuring.

40 inches around.

Never going to work.

Keep telling myself I'm a process knitter. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

A full basket

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:14:00 +0000

I've a full knitting basket lately.

Three Dale of Norway sweaters in rotation.

Begun March 9, 2011.

Sapporo 2007

for Bekky

She chose the colors for a lovely grey/green colorway.

A pullover from Dale Book #138

for Ben

Gjende pullover

for Paul

I knit along on each sweater in rotation. When I come to the end of a ball of yarn, I join on the new ball and move on to the next sweater. This way I never get tired of any individual sweater. I stay eager to move on to the next.

And in between, I still get a few small projects completed.

My most recent carry around project: springy fingerless mittens for the daughters of a friend. Just need weaving in ends, then they are ready for the Easter Bunny basket.

Sky lanterns launched!

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:51:00 +0000

Ben and Bekky came home for a visit this weekend, and we were able to successfully launch our sky lanterns.

We didn't put on the snowshoes this time. We just headed out to the widest part of the driveway. It was much warmer - 24˚ with no wind at all. Much easier to light the lanterns and definitely friendlier to any exposed body parts!

The lanterns looked amazing as they floated away into the night.

And while he was home, Ben picked up his fingerless mitts and a matching knitted hat.

I think they were a hit.

NaKniMitMo 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:52:00 +0000

I took part in National Knit Mittens Month (NaKniMiMo) over on Ravelry this month.

While the hedgehog mittens took me longer than I expected, I did manage to finish two more pair of mittens.

The Winter Wonderland Mittens from Classic Elite.

I used the yarn called for by the pattern - Classic Elite Fresco. It's a cuddly soft mix of wool, alpaca and angora. I really enjoyed this yarn, and the mittens are already getting a fuzzy angora halo.

Ben asked for another pair of fingerless mittens.

I used some handspun coopworth/sari silk yarn that has been aging in the stash.

These are so quick and easy - long tubes of ribbing with large button holes for the thumbs.

I made five pair for my co-workers holiday gifts, all from handspun.

It must be a coyote den

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:57:00 +0000

This is the second coyote we saw trotting past the house this morning.

Managed to capture this one on film:

Absolutely beautiful.

As long as we don't have any livestock, that is...

Fail (and a success)

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:29:00 +0000

I picked up a long abandoned spindle today and spun for an hour while we listened to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the radio. The spindle had quite a bit of fiber already on it, but I thought I could add a bit more before winding off.

I was wrong.

The spindle was too heavy for the size of the thread. It fell to the wood floor, bounced, and repositioned all the fiber. I tried to make repairs, but finally gave up. I took it to the ball winder to try to wind it off, but gave up. I pulled the yarn off the spindle, admired it, frowned a bit, and gave it a toss in the trash.

It was pretty, though, wasn't it?

Paul and I were able to go out for some snowshoeing.
(Girl of the House, who spent the past two days at ski meets, declined the opportunity for more outdoor time.)

We found a den in the pasture.

Coyote? Fox? Anyone know the distinguishing characteristics?

I love the indentation in the snow where the critter lay and soaked up the sun.

We'll keep an eye on it and see what we can determine.

And a success!

Hedgehog mittens from a kit by Morehouse Merino.

Very putzy knitting, but definitely the way to a 15 year old's heart.

New Years Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:11:00 +0000

On New Years Eve we headed out into the 6˚ (-12˚ windchill) cold just before midnight.

Crunched out into the pasture on snowshoes with sky lanterns in hand.

(Surprisingly, the long necked lighters don't work in that kind of cold.)

Paul trotted on back into the house to get the kitchen matches, while Girl of the House and I waited.

After a bit of a struggle, we finally got one of the lanterns lit.

We only launched one of the lanterns. The winds were pretty high and they were hard to handle without tearing.

We'll go out sometime soon on a quiet night and launch the others.

Happy New Year 2011!

Grand Targhee 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:45:00 +0000

We had a fabulous time at Grand Targhee over the holidays.

Besides the snowshoeing on Christmas Day, we skied four full days.

Ready to launch on the first day.

We snow tubed after a full day of skiing.

Girl of the House had her 15th birthday.

We had fresh powder.

Just an awesome family time.

Christmas Day Snowshoeing

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:21:00 +0000

While we were out at Grand Targhee, WY, we were able to do some snowshoeing on Christmas Day. On that bright sunny morning we headed down the hill to Teton Canyon Road. There's a marvelous 13 km groomed nordic ski trail back into the Tetons.

The area receives enthusiastic use on the groomed ski trail, but it was fresh and untouched for snowshoeing.

With seven inches of fresh fluffy sparkly powder on top of a deep snowpack, we couldn't ask for better snowshoeing. We headed off the ski trail and made our own trail just a slight distance from the river.

The Grand Teton in the background.

What an awesome afternoon in the snow!

Paul's been given the opportunity (via Snowshoe Magazine) to take some Columbia Bugatech Lite Omni-heat boots for a test drive.

The boots performed well in the deep powder. His feet stayed warm, dry and comfortable. He frequently swaps out the footbeds in his boots and inserts Superfeet footbeds, but found he didn't need any changes to the support. He's worn these boots while we've hiked in the Carleton Arboretum and they've been very comfortable for hiking. Good traction on icy trails, and they've kept his feet warm even at -10˚ F. While he's accustomed to a slightly taller boot, the only thing he'd like to see improved was the lacing on the top portion of the boot. Some hooks or D-rings would certainly make it easier to achieve the snugly comfortable fit around the ankle.

All in all, he's quite pleased with these boots, and will use them a great deal this winter!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 15:29:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from Grand Targhee, WY!

In the ditch in front of our house

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 21:23:00 +0000

Blizzard warnings:

Good day to take the fish house to the lake, don't you think? Particularly if you need to take a country gravel road. (The nearest lake is still eight miles distant.)

"Aww honey, I'll be OK. I've got four-wheel drive and the plow."

At least he's got the fish house as a winter survival kit!

Sometimes, stupid should hurt.

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:48:00 +0000

I guess I didn't really need to be concerned about the windows.

Happy blizzard to all my fellow Minnesotans!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I don't do windows

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:39:00 +0000

I don't do windows.

I prefer to move.

Seriously.

This is only a slight exaggeration.
In 12 years, I have washed the windows in this house upon a handful of occasions.

On this bright and beautiful morning I see I should have done a wash in November, back when it was still 70 degrees outside.

Now you know the real truth about me.

Snowy Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 03:27:00 +0000

Friday night we had 11 inches of light powdery snow.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny.

It made a great day to go skiing at Welch Village!

(No pictures there, I'm afraid I didn't carry the camera.)

Sunday we lazed about the house.

After a big brunch, we roused ourselves enough to go out for the first snowshoeing of the season.

The dogs went crazy in the deep snow.

Paul had his first chance to use the Dale of Norway mittens I knitted him at the end of last winter.

They're the perfect weight and breathability for snowshoeing.

Kinetic Cowl

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:59:00 +0000

Yesterday's mystery turns out to be a Kinetic Cowl from the most recent Interweave Knits. Pattern by Amy Polcyn.

I crocheted it together this evening and gave it a try-on.

For a quick mindless knit, I'd highly recommend it. The pattern calls for a skein of worsted weight yarn. I used approximately 2 and 1/4 ounces of my worsted weight handspun.

Now I'm ready to ski tomorrow!

120 inches of what?

noreply@blogger.com (Tonyia) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 04:03:00 +0000

One and one-quarter inch wide.

120 inches long.

How do you even block something 10 feet long?

Is anyone else knitting this thing?