Moving

It is time for a change. I'm revamping my blog and restarting it under a new name, The Right to Bear Arms. I hope to see you all there!

WIP Wednesday: Third Time's the Charm (Hyperion Pullover)

There are times when knitting can be frustrating.  Mistakes happen, it is inevitable. Some mistake you fix, some you just go on and learn to live with them, and some force you to scrap everything and start over.

And that has been the story with the Hyperion Pullover, twice. The first time, after about five inches in, there was an error in the lace. At first, I thought I could live with the error, but then I noticed the sleeves was going to end up being wider than I hoped. So, I decided to rip it out and start over.

The second time, I was moving along quite nicely, when it happened again. I noticed the lace pattern on the row I was working didn't look quite right. I powered through to the end of the row and did a stitch count. Sure enough, six stitches mysteriously disappeared.

Blocking can hide a myriad of sins, but six stitched in this lace pattern isn't one of them. So it was back to the beginning for me.

Third time's the charm, right?

FO Friday: Siobhan Part One - Yarn Travels and Love at First Sight

Every now and then, a project just jumps out at me. I see it and I know immediately that I need to make it. That was how the Siobhan shawl came about.

Last October, my mom and I took a trip to San Antonio, Texas. We did all the normal tourist things, saw the Alamo, visited the Spanish missions, went up the Tower of the Americas, ate barbeque and Tex-Mex, drove up to Stonewall, Texas to visit the LBJ Ranch and Texas Whitehouse, and took a ghost tour.* In addition to those things, we also shopped for yarn. I like to try to find a local yarn store whenever I travel; yarn makes a great souvenir. My mom is also a knitter, so she was up for doing some yarn shopping. We happened to be visiting during the 2016 Hill Country Yarn Crawl and made it to 5 of the shops on the crawl.

One of those shops was a place called Inskein Yarns, a cute little shop in Northwest San Antonio. If you are a fiber artist and in the area, stop by. The staff is amazingly friendly and helpful and they have a great selection of yarns.

While browsing, I came across a shawl up by the check out. Something about the shawl caught my eye, the colors, the texture, the design; I’m not sure what it was, but I knew I had to make that shawl in that yarn. I asked about it, the design was created by the shop owner and the yarn was from a local indie dyer. That was all I needed to know, I bought the yarn and the pattern on the spot.

Design wise, Siobhan is a simple shawl, with a couple of interested elements. The body of the shawl has a stitch pattern that creates a great texture that works well for hand-dyed yarns. The bottom of the shawl has these great little loops, which add so much to the overall look. Overall, the knitting wasn’t difficult and it was fun to knit.

Detail of the loops on the bottom of the shawl and the texture of the shawl body.

The yarn, as I mentioned before, is from an indie dyer in San Antonio, Irish Girl Crafts. The yarn base is called Tullamore and is a blend of superwash corriedale wool (75%) and nylon (25%). The color way, Amber’s Fire in the Sky, is a combination of white, purple, yellow, and orange (there may be another color or two in there) and is gorgeous! The colorway makes me think of Disney villains. It is possibly the combination of purples and blacks, or maybe the fact that I started knitting this project on my way to Disney World. Either way, it is a great color combination, I may have to watch the dyer’s Etsy store to see if she ever lists more for sale.

 

*On a completely unrelated note, I have participated in three ghost tours now, Key West, New Orleans, and San Antonio. I highly recommend checking one out if you are visiting a city that has one (there are lots). Even if you aren’t big on the whole looking for ghosts thing, it is a great way to see some forgotten corners of your destination and hear some local legends. I don’t know that my mom is big into hunting ghosts, and she still seemed to have a great time on the San Antonio one.  

WIP Wednesday: Clearview Cowl

Progress has been very slow and very uneventful on the Hyperion Pullover. The yolk is a honeycomb lace pattern, which looks very nice and will be delightful for a summer sweater, but is also rather time consuming to knit. It is also one of those stitch patterns where I actually have to pay attention when I'm knitting. That works great when Kiddo is sleeping and Husband lays claim to the remote, but on nights I'm watching something I want to watch, or when I'm taking my knitting somewhere, or for the hundreds of other times when I'm knitting while doing something, I need an easier project.


So I decided to cast on for the Clearview Cowl. It came in a kit that I picked up on a girls' weekend in Stillwater, Minnesota a couple of years back. I didn't really have immediate plans to knit it, the colors were wrong to go with my winter coat, so it sat in the closet for a couple of years.


However, this year, I got a new winter coat. It is a lovely shade of gunmetal grey, which is lovely and doesn't show stains, but is rather drab. However, handknit accessories are a lovely way to perk up anything.


I am only a couple rows into this project, but I'm all ready a big fan. It is a rather mindless knit, a row of knits, a row of purls, with a color change at the start of each row.

All 250 stitches are scrunched on the needle, it will be much bigger when it is finished.

The yarn, though, THE YARN is what makes this project. I'm knitting it in the recommended Road to China Lace by the Fibre Co. It is an exquisite blend of alpaca (65%), silk (15%), cashmere (10%), and camel (10%). I really cannot overstate how delightfully soft this yarn is. The colors are gorgeous, too. I'm using rhodolite, a beautiful pinky-purple color, and grey pearl, a lovely soft grey.

The camera did a terrible job capturing the colors of this yarn.

I seriously love this yarn. It is super light (partially because it is a lace weight yarn), but I have no doubt that it will be super warm. I was so excited about this yarn that I went out and bought the sport weight version, Road to China Light, in the same colors to make some matching mittens.

Progress is going slow on this, mainly because it is lace weight yarn on tiny needles, but I am loving every single minute of it.

This shot captures the colors a little bit better.

FO Friday: Tauremorna Mitts

When I first started knitting, I thought fingerless gloves were one of the dumbest things ever.


I didn't understand why anyone would want a pair of gloves that doesn't cover their fingers. I live in Wisconsin, I understand cold temperatures and dressing for the weather, fingers are the part of the hand that get cold first. It didn't make sense to me.






Then I gave in and made a pair, just to see what the fuss was all about.







And I got it.




First, fingerless gloves are warmer than I thought. Not Wisconsin winter warm, warmer than I would have guessed. My understanding is that it has something to do with keeping your pulse points warm, but I'm not expert on that. They are perfect for the spring and fall months when it isn't warm enough for gloves or mittens, but still chilly on your bare hands.




The utility of having your fingers free should not be underestimated. Among other things, it is virtually impossible to securely fasten a carseat while wearing mittens.  For the super cold winter weather, I also have a pair of flippy top mittens for the same purpose.


I discovered another great use for fingerless gloves at work. They are fantastic to have for when the office is chilly. They keep your fingers warm while still allowing you to do everything you need to do to get work done. I keep my Zombie Doomsday mitts at my desk for that exact reason. They work so fantastically well, that my friend decided that she needed a pair, too.


If you know me at all, you know that I only knit for a select group of people. As one of my friends, and fellow knitters, likes to say


"Knitting for others is like sex, if I like you enough, it will be free. If I don't, you can't pay me enough to do it."


While the list of people isn't the same, I think that sums up the sentiment quite well.


Anyways, the friend that requested the mitts passed my requirements, and I agreed to make her a pair of fingerless gloves. The end result being these:

The pattern is called Tauremorna Mitts and they are knit in Malabrigo Yarn Mechita. Mechita is a Merino wool, so it is soft and squishy, and this color, English Rose, is tonal shades of pink. The design itself has a cable design on the top. All the cables are just a single stitch wide and done without a needle. They were an enjoyable knit, didn't take too long to complete, and probably only used about 1/2 of the 420 yard skein.

They were received with the proper accolades and a couple of days later, my friend sent me this:

So at least I know they are being used and appreciated.

WIP Wednesday: Hyperion Pullover

At this moment, I don't have much on the needles for Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday. I have several projects in the hopper that I'm getting ready to cast on, but the only active project is the Hyperion Pullover. However, I haven't progressed beyond the first sleeve. As of last night, I had about 3 inches done, but then decided that it looked too big and ripped it out to start over.

I am excited to make this sweater, I haven't made one in a long time. The construction is different from a lot of knitted sweater, you cast on for the cuff of one sleeve and work the yolk across to the other sleeve. After that is done, you pick up stitches around the bottom to finish the body of the sweater. As much as I hate picking up stitches, it will be an interesting challenge.

I'm knitting it in Comfy Fingering weight yarn from Knit Picks. It is a Pima cotton and acrylic blend, perfect for warm weather. The color is blackberry, a lovely dark purple.

Because this project is barely started, I only have pictures of cast on stitches and some yarn.

The mess of yarn is from frogging the last attempt at this sweater.

Hopefully, my lack of other projects will allow me to focus my energy on this project to get it completed fairly quickly.

My Return to Blogging

After a four and a half year hiatus, I have decided to start blogging again.

What brought about this change?

To put it simply, I miss it. I enjoy writing, I like the power of words, and a blog gives me an outlet to write. As I'm not sure that anyone actually will ever read this, it is mainly for me.

Also, I got a new laptop. I've been using my iPad and my smart phone for years now as my primary access point to the internet. I'm on a computer all day at work, so I didn't really feel much of a need to have a computer at home; however, there are some things that a tablet just doesn't do well. And anything that involves large amounts of typing is one of those. Husband and I decided that it was time to take the plunge and purchase a family laptop. And by "family laptop," I mean a laptop for me, since Husband has his work laptop that travels back and forth to work every day.

I haven't fully thought out my plans for my reentry to the blogging world. I know I want to continue to write about my knitting, with such fun days as "WIP Wednesday" and "FO Friday," and I'm certain that I'll review books I've read, and my other current plan is to start to chronical my journey towards my AAP Certification (more on that in a later post), mainly hoping that it will help hold me accountable to a study schedule as I prepare for the test in October. I'm sure there will be a story or two about my toddler (recently turned three) and my life in small town Wisconsin. I'm sure there will be more as I go along.

WIP Wednesday: Doomsday Mitts

First and foremost:

a very Happy 8th Birthday to my niece, Sophie!

And now back to the regularly scheduled post:

One of the projects I’m working on right now is a dk weight fingerless mittens, that I’ve dubbed the Zombie Doomsday Mitts. The pattern, Rose Tyler Wrist Warmers (Ravelry link), were inspired by a pair of fingerless gloves worn by the Doctor’s Companion in the episode Doomsday. I’m working on them as a knit a long (KAL) for the Walking Dead fan group I belong to on Ravelry. Put those things together and Zombie Doomsday seemed a great name for them.


The mitts have a beautiful cable pattern that creates several large diamonds, filled in with seed stitch down the middle. The diamonds are flanked by a single cable on either side. I’m making them out of Silky Merino yarn from Malabrigo in a greenish-yellow color.

Knitting these as a KAL project has helped immensely, I’m pretty sure that they would have ended up frogged by now if not for the support of the group. I don’t know why exactly these have been so troublesome, I’ve done projects that were considerably more complicated before, but for some reason I have ran into problem after problem with them. Extra stitches have appeared on my needles, cables have been mistwisted, I started the pattern on the wrong row. The most current problem I have encountered has been large holes at the thumb gusset increases. I changed to the very nearly Invisible increase from the TechKnitting Blog, which seems to have solved the problem.

Now that I’ve gotten the hang of the pattern, things seem to be going a bit more smoothly. I’ve completely finished one mitt and have just finished the thumb gusset increases on the second.

 

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WIP Wednesday: Bigger on the Inside

By now it is no secret, I love my iPad. For day to day use, it has replaced my laptop (though I still need the laptop for a couple of things, including printing). When I first got my iPad, I purchased a couple of accessories to ensure that it was protected (especially after the nasty screen-cracking-even-when-in-a-case incident with my Kindle…I’m still pissed about that). I bought one of those bendy magnetic covers that also props it up in a couple of different positions and a back rubber shell. I went all out and got the back piece that is designed to absorb shock when dropped (something I’m very likely to do) and holds the iPad on the hood of a car when driving 45 mph (something I’m not really likely to do, but good to know just the same). I figured that eventually, I would also get a sleeve for it, something I could pull over the two covers for that added layer of protection, especially when tossing it into a bag. But I wanted to take my time and be sure I found the prefect sleeve for my iPad.


Because I’m me, my first thought was to knit a sleeve, an idea I took and ran with. While browsing Ravelry, it hit me, a TARDIS themed cover would be absolutely perfect.

For those of you not in the know, TARDIS stands for time and relative dimension in space, and is the time machine/spaceship of a certain time traveling alien known as The Doctor. And if you are still unsure what I’m talking about, watch Dr. Who. Anyways, the TARDIS, because of a problem with the Chameleon Circuit (seriously, just watch the show) looks like a blue police box, the kind that were common in England once upon a time. And the TARDIS is bigger on the inside.

Now, my iPad is not very big, but inside it contains games, videos, documents, apps, music, photos, knitting patterns, and the entire internet. Clearly, it too is bigger on the inside. a TARDIS sleeve would be the perfect companion to my iPad.

I found a pattern through Ravelry, and made a few modifications to make it work for me. I’m making it out of Comfy yarn from Knit Picks. I’m up to the windows on it now, which is pretty good, considering I cast on Saturday and had to rip it out once.

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The View from the Podium

Look at this:

That is a completed February Lady Sweater, it is done. And by done, I mean done, except for the buttons. Ends have been woven in, and it has been washed and blocked and I have already picked out and purchased the buttons, so I’m calling it done.

And, I finished with a week to spare as part of the Ravelympics. That gave me plenty of time to devote to my second Ravelympic project. For project number two, I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves. The pattern is called Zombie Vixen, which under any circumstances be almost enough reason for me to make them, but they are also super cute. This project is intended to be a gift, but I like the pattern so much, I think I’m going to have to make a pair for myself. Plus, I always need more fingerless gloves, I love fingerless gloves. The gloves went quickly, and I was able to finish those Friday night and wove in the ends Saturday morning.

However, success at the Ravelympic projects has come at the cost of progress on other projects, namely socks. My Michigan Lakeshore socks are idling at a standstill. I was almost to the heel of the second one when I discovered a problem that forced me to rip back to the cuff. Seeing as how those socks are my mom’s birthday present, and my mom’s birthday was July 27, I might want to get those done some day.

I’m not going to worry about those things now, instead, I’m just going to bask in my Ravelympic success.

I'm on the podium for several events:

WIP Wrestling

One Skein Sprint

Cable Steeplechase

And, Mitten Medly

 

 

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Fibery Exhibitionism

I’ve been knitting for almost ten years now, and my skills have developed considerably from the time I started. Like any artist, I’m proud of my accomplishments and try to take advantage of opportunities to showcase my work. Usually this comes in one of two forms, either posting pictures on various social media outlets (primarily Ravelry, Twitter, and Facebook) or dragging the knitted goods around with me and showing them to anyone who looks even remotely interested. This year, I took advantage of another method of showing off my work, I entered several pieces into the county fair.


I come from (and still live in) rural Wisconsin and I can remember while growing up, the county fair was an extremely big deal. It has lost some of its luster now, but still includes a variety of events, including a needle work contest. Every year, I think about entering items into it, but usually not until after the entry deadline has passed.

This year, I managed to be on top of things and got the entry form in on time (and by on time I mean the day before it was due). I decided to enter pieces in five categories (knitters are limited to one item per category). I entered my Invisibility Wrap, my Llama Chullo hat, my Spatterdash fingerless gloves, my Carry-All Tote and my Cubist socks shawl. That seemed to offer a fair cross-section of my knitting abilities.

By the time I dug out the pieces, washed and reblocked the ones that needed it, I was pleased with my entries. I felt there were a couple of pieces that had a chance of winning a ribbon. I dropped off the pieces at the fairgrounds and went back Friday after the judging had been completed.

I was surprised to find that out of five pieces, I had won five ribbons. Yup, every piece had one something. My Llama hat and my Carry-All tote both took firsts, with the Llama hat also winning a Special Merit Award. The socks, Invisibility wrap, and Spatterdash mitts all took seconds.

Entering the pieces in the fair wasn’t about winning ribbons, and with my prizes adding up to a grand total of about $9, it certainly wasn’t about the prize money. However, I would like to think that it wasn’t just about ego, either. For me, a big part of knitting is the tradition. Knitters today are doing basically the same thing that they’ve been doing for generations. We might be doing them for different reasons (because we want to rather than we need to), we might have newer tools, and a wider variety of materials available; but the process is still the same. Generations of knitters have been making socks, mittens, hats, purses, and other things. And generations of knitters have been entering their best work into county fairs and other exhibitions for the feeling of pride that comes from knowing that you have a skill and you are good at the skill.

And, a lot of it is ego.

 

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It's the Most Wonderful Time of Every Four Years

Hello, my name is Nicole and I’m an Olympic Junkie. I love, love, love the Olympics. With the start of the summer games in London just hours away as I write this, I am looking forward to the next two weeks of Olympic goodness.

And with the Olympics come the Ravelympics, or the Ravellenic Games. Honestly, I’m not sure which one the official name was, weeks ago there was a big dust up with copyright and the U.S. Olympic Committee. I’m not going to get into the whole thing, but the USOC learned that insulting and upsetting knitters is not a good idea.

The Ravellenic Games are celebration of both the Olympic games and of the fiber arts held on Ravelry (a social networking site for fiber artists). Teams compete in such events as the Afghan Marathon, Sock Put, Work in Progress Wrestling (believe me there are a lot more too). It runs from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies.

I’ll be competing first and foremost in the WIP wrestling. My goal is to finish the February Lady Sweater, which I have not touched since March. If, by some miracle, I finish that, I’ll be casting on in the Sock Put event, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.

I might be able to accomplish more than I think though. Next Thursday, Husband leaves on his annual golf trip. This means I will be left to my own devices Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday. Even factoring in that I have to work at the bank on Saturday, and I am available to work at the grocery store Saturday and Sunday, there should be plenty of knitting time (especially when I factor in that I have Thursday off from both jobs).

So, if anybody needs me the next two weeks, and I’m not at work; you will most likely find my happily curled up on my couch, enjoying two of my favorite things, knitting and the Olympics.

Life is good.

 

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Renewing a Commitment

I'd love to be one of those people who absolutely love to exercise. I wish my solution to a bad day was to hit them gym, that would make staying healthy so much easier.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. I've tired several times to get onto the exercise bandwagon, but it never seems to stick. Back in late winter/early spring, I again made a go of it, I went consistently for about four or five weeks, and then stopped. It seems so much easier to break a habit than to start one.

I wanted to get back into going, but needed motivation. My health insurance offers a $100 credit twice a year for consistent attendance at a gym or fitness center, and the second period started July 1, so marked that as a starting point.

However, July 1 fell in the middle of a massive heat wave. Yes, my fitness center has ac, but we're talking about extreme, suck the life out of you heat. I deeply admire anyone who finds motivation to do anything besides hide in their air conditioned house during this weather.

It's a little tough to see, but on my calendar widget for
my phone, the gym is scheduled.

Monday, then, I laced up my shoes and went back. I scheduled it in my calendar, and forced myself to go (I seem to better at going when it is in my calendar). I've made it three times this week, with another scheduled trip for this weekend. Maybe this time it will stick.

In hopes of sustaining motivation, I also decided to address one of the bigger excuses I used before for skipping the gym, my iPod. I have a iPod touch, which I used at the gym to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while at the gym (I found this to be more motivation than music). But I've had my iPod for awhile now, and it doesn't take long for the battery to drain. I could leave it sit for a couple hours and there would be no power. Instead I found an app on my android phone that does the same thing. In addition to eliminating an excuse, it also is one less thing that I have to carry to the gym; a win-win (don't worry though, between car and home use, the iPod is still seeing plenty of use).

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Yes, I Can!

Rainier cherries, all year long, or while supplies last.

I absolutely love Rainier cherries, love, love, love them. If heaven has a flavor, I'm pretty sure it is the flavor of Rainier cherries. The problem is, living in Wisconsin, this type of cherry is only available for about a month, and usually costs somewhere between 7 and 8 dollars a pound. My local grocery store usually has them on sale for about one week a year, and in the past, I eat all the cherries I can that week and dream about them

But this year, I decided to change all that. I decided to stock up and can the cherries. Last year, I canned peaches, pears, and homemade salsa, all with good results (which reminds me, I need to pick up some peaches and can those, too), so I was reasonably sure that I could handle cherries as well.

I didn't go overboard at the store, I bought about 5 or 6 pounds of Rainier cherries (and ate a fair amount of those). I opted to can whole cherries, with the pits, for two reasons, 1, I plan on eating them whole anyways, and spitting out the pit is no big deal, and mostly, 2, I'm lazy and didn't want to pit 5 ponds of cherries.

Ready to be canned!

Yesterday, I settled in, cranked my iPod and assembled all my canning supplies (which isn't all that much, I'm still new to canning). I removed stems, washed, and poked all the cherries (to prevent splitting). I prepared an extra, extra light syrup (I used about a third of the sugar called for I the recipe for extra light syrup). I debated about using sugar at all. I researched and found it was safe to can in just water, but sugar helps to maintain the color and firmness. I decided I'd use a little bit of sugar, and hopefully find the middle ground between limited sugar and maintaining the deliciousness of the fruit.

Once it was all ready, I packed the cans with cherries and syrup, processed them and let them cool. I ended up with ten pint jars of cherries, and I figured there are 25-30 cherries in each jar, so I canned somewhere between 250 and 300 cherries. That should be enough to last me at least a couple months.

For anybody interested in getting started with canning, I have found several resources to be very helpful, particularly the Simply Canning website and the National Center for Home Food Preservation (a division of the USDA). Check them out to get started!

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Door County Weekend

Peninsula State Park

Husband and I decide to take a little mini-vacation together this summer. Seeing as how the last time the two of us took a weekend away together, without other family, and without needing to was way back when Husband won a two night stay in the Dells at a work Christmas party, when he still worked at the resort, so it was at least 4 years ago, we figured we were due for a little get away.


We opted to take a trip across the state to Door County (for those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Door County is the peninsula that divides Green Bay from Lake Michigan, the "thumb" of the hand that is Wisconsin). We had spent a couple of days there right after our wedding, and always talked about going back, but never gotten around to it. We knew from previous experience that it is a pretty dog friendly place, so I tossed out the idea of bringing Pippin along. We had only attempted to travel with Pippin once before, an ill fated camping trip cut short by spending an night of storms in a tent with a thunder phobic dog and were pretty nervous about doing it again, so decided that we better only plan on making this a weekend trip, just in case.
The first step in all of this was to find a dog-friendly place to stay. It didn’t take too much searching before I discovered the Beachfront Inn in Bailey’s Harbor. Not only did they allow dogs, they offered a special package catering to guests with dogs. Excellent. The package included a two night stay at the hotel, a gift certificate to a local restaurant that had dog-friendly outdoor dining, a day pass to a state park, and a gift certificate from the Door County Visitor’s Bureau. It all sounded good, and they had one dog-friendly room available for the weekend we needed. We booked the stay and I started to research additional animal-friendly things to do.

Day One

In the car and ready to go!

It’s a four and a half hour drive from our home to Bailey’s Harbor. That’s a long time in a car for Husband and me, and an impossible amount of time for Pippin. I needed to make sure we provided him with enough chances to get out, stretch, and bathroom. I worked out stops about every hour to hour and a half on the way, which seemed just about right for Pippin. When we packed up the car, we made sure that Pippin had the whole backseat to himself (with the exception of my knitting bag and his supplies), and found a canvas seat cover to protect the back seats.

Our first stop was in Steven’s Point, where we picked up lunch, and ate and visited with Husband’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was nice to catch up with everyone, and Pippin enjoyed a bowl of water, some ice cream, and a walk around their yard.

Stop number two was in Appleton, at the Outagamie County Dog Park. This was Pippin’s first experience with a dog park, so we were a little bit nervous about it. Our concerns turned out to be pointless, as Pippin thoroughly enjoyed himself at the dog park. I think he would have been perfectly happy to stay there all weekend.

We continued on our way, making a third stop in Sturgeon Bay. Fist Husband took Pippin for a walk while I browsed at a local yarn store, Spin of Door County and bought myself a lovely skein of handpainted sock yarn. The color way is called sea wash and it combines teal blues, greys, whites, and browns. We also stopped at Stove Dog Bakery; which, as the name suggests, if a canine bakery and store. Pippin left there with a bag of homemade cookies, a new bandana, and a walking harness. The staff there was wonderful, letting Pippin browse with us, supplying a bowl of water for dogs, and allowing us to remove the harness from the packaging in order to make sure it fit Pippin (he tends to fall between sizes for doggie clothing).



The beach at Beachfront Inn

Finally, just before dinnertime, we checked into our hotel in Bailey’s Harbor. To say that the Beachfront Inn is merely dog friendly, would be an understatement. From the welcome treats in our room, the off leash beach area, and the lobby where the owner’s dogs allowed visitors, this was very much a hotel for dogs and the people that love them.

Dinner that night was just down the block from our hotel at the Harbor Fish Market and Grille. Pippin enjoyed his own bowl of water, complimentary dog treats and a hamburger, without a bun, served on a bed of kibble.

Day Two

After a lousy night’s sleep (unfortunately, our hotel room was directly below a patio, and the scraping of chairs scared Pippin and kept us up), we headed out to begin our day. First stop was for breakfast, a little place in Ephraim, called Good Eggs. It was basically a little place in a converted garage, but the food was fantastic.

Checking out Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

The majority of the morning was spent at Peninsula State Park. We drove along Shore Road, making several stops to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including one at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We then parked by the Eagle Tower, and enjoyed a hike through the woods and along the lakeshore. While the nice breeze off of Green Bay was nice, it still was pretty warm out there. By the time we got back to the car all three of us were beat!

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

We grabbed lunch at a place just outside of the park, Julie’s Park Motel and Café, which had a dog friendly patio. Pippin enjoyed both his bowl of water and the dog treat given to him by a complete stranger. We then decided to head back to the hotel to catch a nap and escape the hottest part of the day.

With renewed energy, we headed out to explore downtown Fish Creek. We grabbed some frozen custard at a little shop called Not Licked Yet, where Pippin enjoyed a complimentary doggie ice cream cone. I was a little bummed because we had missed the Heritage Days celebration, but we browsed through several of the little shops until it was time for dinner. We had decided on a place in Fish Creek called Gibraltar Grille. They not only had a pet friendly patio, but run a monthly “Dog Pals” contest on Facebook. The food there was amazing; I recommend the Scallops and red pepper risotto, which was delicious.

Cana Island Lighthouse

We enjoyed the cool evening breeze off of Lake Michigan while exploring a county park beach and the Cana Island Lighthouse just outside of Bailey’s Harbor. The lighthouse and grounds were beautiful and the wind coming off of the lake felt refreshing after the hot day we had. Despite our midday rest, we were exhausted from the day and headed back to the hotel.

Enjoying the wildflowers at Cana Island

Day Three

Day three we headed for home, but not before enjoying some fantastic pastries and coffee at the Door County Coffee and Tea Company in Carlsville. We had wanted to hit a couple of shops near there, but we got going a little too early on a Sunday morning. We did, however, browse at the coffee shop where I picked up some coffee beans (roasted on site) and some local cherry jam. We also hit a store called Grandma Tommy’s, where we grabbed some local cherry wine before heading out for home.

You could tell Pippin was tired for most of the ride home. We made a second stop at the Outagamie Dog Park in Appleton, and another at a rest area, but the drive was pretty uneventful. We were all happy to be home.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic get away for us all. I was impressed with the number of pet-friendly places for us. We’re already planning on going back next year, but this time renting a cabin and staying for a little longer.

Sock in progress

Surprisingly, despite the long drive, I didn't get much knitting done. I did some work on my sweater (for which the deadline has now passed) and started a new pair of socks. The socks are a pattern called Michigan Lakeshore, which seemed fitting considering that we were staying on the shore of Lake Michigan. They are made from Adorn sock by Three Irish Girls. The color way is Father Time, a blend of blues, brown, grey, with a little green and white mixed in.

The grounds at Cana Island Lighthouse

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Strawberry!

Strawberry

Just a happy little picture of the first strawberry from my Earthbox!

Wouldn't You Know It?

I'm a big fan of wooden knitting needles,they have a much better feel than plastic and are much warmer (and less noisy) than metal. With the exception of socks,* almost all of my projects are knitted on wooden needles.



But, one problem with wooden needles is that they can break. In my experience, they don't break often, just when you do things like step on them. Thankfully, breakage is usually pretty rare.

However, I'm knitting on a deadline right now. So, breakage was inevitable. Husband forgot that a house rule is to check for stray needles before sitting (though Husband would say that it was my fault for leaving my knitting of the couch). I was left with a broken stump of a needle, and a half finished sweater.

I was forced to order replacement needle tips, and of course, I had to include some yarn (I needed to qualify for free shipping after all). The package took about a week to arrive, so that forced gave me the opportunity to complete my Citron shawl. It worked out well, actually, I bound off the shawl on the same day the box arrived.

Still, that was a week with no progress on the sweater, and now the wedding is only 13 days away. I have divided for the armholes and have about seven inches left on the body, plus the sleeves, and the ruffle trim. As a precaution, today I ordered a cardigan that would also work well with the skirt.

*As a side note , I would love to knit socks on wooden needles as well, but when they are that tiny, wooden needles just don't withstand the wear and tear I inflect upon them (and yes, I'm reasonably certain that the problem is me, not the needles.

 

It's Going to Be a Great Day!

There are few better ways to start a Saturday than to find a box from Knitpicks waiting on my front porch. Contents include some Wool of the Andes Tonal in Gypsy Queen (red) for the Milk Run Shawl (Rav. Link) and some Comfy Worsted in Celestial (blue), white, and black for a Tardis iPad sleeve, and my replacement needle tips in size 8.

Life is good.

 

Long Overdue Sheepcote Photos

Okay, so I finished this sweater way back in March.

I just never got around to posting the pictures of it, which have been sitting on my camera since March. But here they are now. Late winter/early spring was a bit of a blah time for me, but hopefully spring and summer will renew my interest in both knitting and blogging and get me back on track with some other things as well.

Anyways, I am vey happy with the way the sweater turned out. It could have been a size smaller, but it is still very cute and wearable. There is something satisfying about finishing projects and about being able to say, "Thanks, I made it," to compliments.

I have two sweaters currently on the needles. The much anticipated February Lady Sweater is about halfway done. However, it is on pause as I race to finish another cardigan, the Teal Top-Down Cardigan (in yellow) for a wedding in the beginning of June. I also have the Citron shawl on the needles, but I'm waiting for another ball of yarn to arrive in order to finish it.

Hopefully, updates n those projects won't be so delayed.