Emptyknitster

Hubby and I had been dreaming of a trip to the Galapagos and Amazon Rain Forest for many years and this was the perfect time to go on another adventure. Traveling is not for the faint of heart if you live in Montana. Living in the northwest part of the United State necessitates leaving a few days earlier than the beginning of your tour. We left the house at 4:30 am for our 6:00 flight and flew to Miami, got a hotel and then didn't fly to Guayaqull, Ecuador, until 8:30pm the second night. We had worried about bad weather, snow on our end or a hurricane on the other and in fact Florida was struck by Hurricane Micheal earlier in the week, but luckily not in the Miami area. We were greeted in Guayaquil and taken to our hotel about 1am. We met the others in our group and were on the road by 9am for a day's excursion of the countryside and the city in the afternoon...   Along the road Street vendors were selling baskets of freshwater crab caught in the mangroves. The vendors s...

 Hubby and I haven't gotten up early enough to attend a homecoming parade for several years but this year the weather was perfect and I had my Homecoming sweater ready to go!   Pattern: Bubbly Sweater by Isabell Kraemer Yarn: Cascade Sport Colorway: Burgandy and Silver Gray Needle size: US 3 and US 4 Before the parade began we met up with Missoula's hero, MONTY! And he was sweet enough to let me have a photo with him... We decided to watch the parade from its starting point and were able to catch a fun warm up by the college band. When I finally pulled out the phone they were winding down but it's still a fun snippet: Had to take a shot with one of my favorite critters - just WHAT would I do without this guy? Knit acrylic? I don't think so!  Also took a photo with Smoky. He looked out for Hubby many summer fire seasons over the years! Fiddlers, spooks, horses, ax throwers, politicians, it was a great Montana parade!

Pattern: Norwegian Star Mittens by Rhonda Stovin Yarn: Funull Pt2 Colorway: White and Dark Gray Needle Size" US Size 4 These mittens are knit in the traditional yarn, Ramau from Norway. The resulting fabric is firmer than the others I made last week. An enjoyable  mitten knitting session. These are a traditional star mitten pattern. I've found a new mitten pattern that will be going on the needles soon. There is a sweater on the needles that only needs the yoke completed.

We've been watching our tiger salamander grow for several years. We were sad he had such a solitary life in the dark, musty, sprinkling system box.  Over the years we started calling him Saul The Salamander. Today, Hubby came into the house delighted to tell me that in fact Saul was Sally.... Not one but two little guys are now living in the box, with their mom - and a dad.... somewhere....

Just finished my first two pair of Norwegian Snowflake Mittens and they won't be my last! I realize they aren't in traditional Norwegian colors but when in the Griz Nation...  A pair for me and a pair for the dedicated tailgate organizer!  More former colleagues and Griz fans. So fun to catch up with them.

Saturday was the first game of the season and many old friends were there to cheer the team on! It was great to catch up with the former work bunch and we hope to see them again soon! (Griz were victorious and moved up to 14th place in the rankings - so glad Coach Hauck is back with his quatrerback keeper)