Sky lanterns launched!

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.

Another hat?

We're canning today. Girl of the House has gone to the Defeat of Jesse James Days, Northfield's annual big festival, for the afternoon.

We've made 31 pints of Salsa and 20 pints of canned tomatoes.














It would have been 22 pints of tomatoes, but two jars broke during processing








Yay, salsa!












I finished this hat from handspun earlier this week.


I really don't know who's going to wear all these hats.

But it's good to use up some of these little skeins.





A sample skein. I have a coopworth lamb fleece, aging in my stash. I added some scraps from the recent hats, and carded them up together.

Makes a pretty, slubby, yarn.









By the way, our little dog is a pervert.

This is one of last year's (male) kittens.


I know, it's just not right...

State Fair Fiber

Spun up and Navajo plied to preserve the color changes.

I still really like the colors. It's hanging to dry.















One more knitted hat started, from left-over handspun. A few years ago, I wove Ben a scarf from this yarn.

Scarf's long gone...










He's been reading in funny positions since he learned to read. 20 years old, and he's still a contortionist.

We went to the State Fair

And I bought fiber! (imagine that!)

Paul and I have been to the Minnesota State Fair every year since 1992. It was our second official date.

We spent Friday at the fair. We go early, we eat, drink, and spend the day people watching. Traditionally, we don't buy anything we need to carry.

However, this pretty little ball of dyed fiber was calling out to me. It's 8 oz of "roving of sheep of unknown parentage" from HoneyGold Acres.


Ben's gone this week. He's in the Boundary Waters with his girlfriend and her family.

Before he left, he talked Paul into making a quick trip back to Camp Pepin. He needed to pick up his sailboat!

He rescued an sailboat from the camp, and wasn't able to get it home on his Jeep. The boat hadn't been used for a few years, and needs a few repairs.

Yes, every college student (in Iowa, well known for its lakes) needs a sailboat!


I got him to model his new hat before he left.

He likes to wear it turned up. "Looks more like a sailing cap, mom."

Girl of the House models the latest orange handspun hat.







Ben's hat is big enough to cover his ears for winter, should he ever flip the cuff down.










I spent last weekend doing some sundyeing.

The roving is alpaca.

The locks are from a white Coopworth fleece I found hiding deep in my stash. It was filthy dirty with lots of second cuts.

It took longer to wash than it did to card and spin!



It did make a nifty textured yarn, though. The locks are the blue on the left and the strange color on the top.

I plied the Colorado spindling yarn and the merino/silk.

I see more hats in my near future.




A few more pictures from Colorado. We camped in three different campgrounds: one high in the mountains (11,300 ft), one on a beautiful mountain stream, and one on a large reservoir.

A lot of variety within one area!

We had some great morning coffee spots.



This was our early morning view in the Slumgullion National Forest Service campground. We watched the sun rise on the mountains.

When the dogs are still adjusting to the time zone change, you are forced to rise early!






Our favorite campsite was at Gate Bureau of Land Management campground. Only 8 campsites, and $5 per night.

Here's the view from the camper doorway.

Definitely our favorite coffee spot!







For our final night, we camped at Stevens Creek National Park Service campgrounds on the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Not much shade, but the views were amazing.

First thing you do in 88 degree heat

with a dew point of 75 degrees, is model the hats you just finished knitting!

This makes perfect sense to a compulsive knitter.

Here we are, after a long weekend of camping.

Note the happy inattention to personal grooming...


Both hats are knit from handspun. Girl of the House is modeling the Blue Face Leicester purchased at Shepherd's Harvest.

I'm wearing Karaoke (merino/soy silk) fiber purchased at Mielke's Farm last fall when I was at SOAR.



Here's a better photo of hats - no heads.











We returned to one of our favorite state parks in Minnesota - Beaver Creek Valley.



Our favorite morning coffee spot, the head of East Beaver Creek. There are springs popping cold, clear water right out of the rock walls.





We did miles and miles of hiking.

Beaver Creek Valley is a very narrow valley with steep walls. We hiked all around the rim. The views are incredible.

We did one geocache in the park.

Due to the depth of the valley and the tree coverage, the campground is always at least 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding area.

There were gentle breezes that kept us cool.


I did quite a bit of knitting.



Advanced a bit on Rogue.

I even got some spinning done. Can't say I'm very pleased with that, though...






We played games and games of cards.












And we read.












Even Ben made it down to see us for a night, before returning to camp.









On the way home, we went the roundabout way.

It's always best to take a different road home. There are so many things to see in this world.



We stopped at John Latsch State Park, along the Mississippi, and did two geocaches.

One of them was at the top of the bluff.

Roughly 600 steps up the bluff.



pant, pant, pant



The views were breathtaking.

(And it felt REALLY good to sit and rest.)








Now, we return to our regularly scheduled week.

(Whoa, kind of a drag, eh?!)

It snowed for several hours Saturday morning. Actually built up on the deck, but it melted on the grass. Deer hunters are out - we heard several shots close by. A doe came across the yard, limping. Her front leg had been shot, but she was still going strong. Maybe she'll heal, and be a mate for the big three legged buck that we see frequently...


We saw Shrek III on Friday night. I managed to spin up a bobbin of the Shanghai Nights fiber that's been in my stash for a few months. I have a pound of it - got 5 ounces on the bobbin so far. It's really fun. It has silk threads carded into it.






Last evening I finished a quick little chemo cap. A friend asked me to make up a few hats for one of her recently diagnosed friends. It's knitted from some stash yarn I received a few years ago - I have no clue of the content, but boy, it's soft!



Plan today is to continue to prepare the house for Thanksgiving dinner. You know, put junk away that's been sitting out for so long that you don't even see it anymore, REALLY dust, spot clean the carpet (darn puppy!), clean the nose prints off the sliding glass door (darn puppy!), etc... We're having between 16-18 people to dinner.

We're also going to do a little geocaching. Hey, we hid our first geocache yesterday! It's published, and I'll bet someone finds it today. Now beside finding others, we have our own to maintain. (Well, we got kinda excited about it!!!)