Emptyknitster

Once the knitting retreat was over and everyone had "cast off" and were on their way home, I hopped into the car and headed to Helena. Three generations of the family were planning on racing in the Governor's Cup. California Dreamin' Son-in-law and The Chick were running the half marathon, California Dreamin' Daughter was running the 10K and The Pirate, Chloe-A-Little-Bit and I were doing the Fun Run- later to be known as THE MILE MARATHON! California Dreamin' Son-In-Law finished with an outstanding 10th place and 6th place in the men's category. We are all very proud of him and the training he's been doing to be able to finish so strong.  California Dreamin' Daughter arrived next with a winning stance! And  The Chick flew by! After the race our three racers compared notes, and a friend of The Chicks stopped by to say that she had thought she saw The Chick during the race and from behind shouted to her to move her...

Our original six knitters enjoyed last year's retreat so much we decided to do a retake on the Rockin' S Retreat (Sit, Sip, and Stockinette!) There were eleven this year almost doubling our group and I think we had even more fun. Food was outstanding.We knit, knit knit and sipped a little. We dyed yarn in several sessions, some soaked in the hot springs while others dyed their sock yarn.  Everyone let their creative juices flow and some yarn was tonal, some mottled, and some mottled and then over dyed in tonal!  Each member took a turn working on a charity project for the school's PTA silent auction this fall. We soaked in the pool but by mutual agreement- no photos, and enjoyed the great outdoors. A few dedicated knitters even knit their projects late into the night.   It was declared The Rockin' S Retreat Take Two was a great success and all are looking forward to next June 14th and 15th!

Enjoyed knitting this new sock pattern: Pattern: Mystik Spiral Socks Yarn: Patons kroy socks Colorway: Cyan stripes Amount: 2 skeins Needle Size: US Size 1 I had never tried the OMG heel featured in this pattern. It is a nice fitting heel but I will be returning to the Fishlips Kiss Heel on my next pair.

Recently, I saw this cowl on a podcast and thought it would be an interesting knit. In the introduction the designer wrote: "No casting on, no binding off, made in rows but ends up in one piece." Very interesting and to good to pass up! Pattern: Foolproof by Louise Zass-Bangham Yarn: Cascade Heritage Sock Colorway: Charcoal and Burgandy Amount: 1 skein of each color Needle size: US Size 5 Note: Enjoyed the project but if I make this again it will be the small width and length. The final project is a little to long and wide.

I've known for a week both Denali and I have a love of fiber: Its cute now but as soon as I have yarn chewed through or a snapped  cable on my needles it won't be near so sweet. This morning both cats got in on the action. I walked into the fiber room and found this: My bag of fleece had been dipped into and the current fiber on the wheel slightly displaced. Suddenly the culprit pounced out from under the table to nab more roving! "Oh, oh, we've been caught..."  "Kittens will be kittens, it wasn't me Mom. Honest!" Grace continues to claim she had nothing to do with this mess and is beginning to enjoy pointing a paw at someone else!

There is an old saying:  The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Seems to apply to more than man. The way to this beast's heart is through her stomach.

Hubby and Denali arrived early Saturday morning from their whirlwind airplane trip. Our kitty remained "free" but cost Hubby a plane ticket to Alaska and back. Typically, in hubby fashion, he didn't make a few last minute arrangements and stay a few days but flew up Thursday and back Friday seeing very little of Anchorage. I was told that Denali was an outstanding traveler. The trek back took twelve hours and if you didn't make eye to eye contact with her she'd stay quiet in her little pet carrier. We want to continue this pattern of delightful traveling with Denali, so yesterday less than a week after her arrival, we popped Denali in the vehicle and off we went driving over the Beartooth Mountains. This pass is closed all winter and opens each Memorial weekend if the snowplows can make it through. When we've driven this in the past we've only gotten to the little store located at the spot known as "The Top Of The World". This year our trip was...