A Finished Project!

Tuesday night - 16 points

Saturday night - 30 points and complete!

The pattern suggested using snaps to connect the ends, but I found this lace is stretchy enough to just pull it over your head. Now, I just need some cold weather so I can have a chance to wear it!

Finally! A project that I can show "in progress"

This new project is not a gift, so I can post photos showing it growing. It is a knitted lace neckwarmer (used like a scarf but without the long ends) and I am knitting it for myself. I started it Saturday morning and it is working up quickly. One nice thing about this pattern is that it is worked sideways so you just work until it fits around your neck -- the finished piece will probably have about 30 "points".

Saturday evening - 9 points

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles. I am using a lighter-weight yarn and size 7 needles, instead. The yarn is called Jasmine and is a blend of cotton, silk, polyester, and bamboo. (It's hard to believe that you can get wonderfully soft, silky yarns from a woody plant like bamboo but it is a popular new yarn fiber.) This particular yarn has tiny metallic flecks in it that give it just a bit of sparkle.

Tiny Stockings

While in Durango, I bought a pattern for some knitted Christmas stocking earrings and a set of size 0000 double-pointed needles to make them. Here is my work in progress along with a finished stocking.

This was my third stocking and the best one so far

Mom said that, instead of using the needles, I could just use toothpicks. Unfortunately, these needles are thinner (!) than toothpicks -- only about 1.25mm. Toothpicks would not be strong enough, anyway -- the tips need to be able to withstand a lot of pressure. Typical needles are made from aluminum -- these tiny ones are made from steel. My first effort didn't come out as well as I had hoped (manipulating these TINY needles and TINY stitches is hard!) and took me three hours to make. By the third attempt, though, my stitches looked much smoother and I had the time down to an hour. Still, this is definitely not something that I will be mass-producing any time soon.

Leaving Durango

Well, we have left Durango behind us. Mom had us up at 6:00 this morning and we were in the car and heading out by 7:19. It was 17 degrees outside so we were moving a little slowly! Leaving was sad but even highway driving has had its exciting moments. When we were still in New Mexico, we passed a red, white, and blue bus that proclaimed "Stop Obama Tour" down the side. We were very excited and wondered who might be on board. We hoped it might be McCain but found later that he was on the east coast. Sarah Palin, though, had been in Roswell the night before so it is very possible that this was her bus. (I am writing this not to promote a particular party -- I would be excited to pass this close to any candidate.) I told Greg to turn around so I could get a photo and he would not do it. It's been three days now and I'm still upset with him.

Today's drive had its own excitement. In the tiny town of Del Norte, Colorado, we saw flashing red and blue lights as traffic slowed to a stop in front of us. We thought there had been an accident but then saw a flock of preschoolers being herded across the four-lane highway. It was so cute. The police car had traffic stopped and all the kids were holding on to a rope so that they would stay together. We thought that was funny and went on through the town. Then, we saw the flashing lights again. Sure enough, another flock was being herded across the highway but, this time, it was an actual flock. We sat for about 15 minutes as a police car blocked the highway and a sheep herder with several sheep dogs moved a flock of sheep down the highway. It was so interesting to watch the dogs work -- the shepherd would whistle to the dogs and they would nudge the sheep into a cohesive group and move them toward the open pen about 100 yds down the highway. Occasionally, a dog would leave the sheep and jump into the back of a truck. I took a closer look and saw that there was a big tub of water there for them. The dog would get a quick drink and then take his place again with the sheep.





Right now, we are in Amarillo, eating pizza, and watching the World Series. Still a great vacation!

Could this really be our last day in Durango?

Look close and you can see Greg on his bike crossing the bridge


I am trying hard to remember that Wednesday will be a full day in Durango even if it is the last day. I am not ready to come home. The high today was only 50 degrees, but I sat on the terrace and knitted because I did not want to waste a single minute of my allotted, but dwindling, time.


Greg eating breakfast


Mom in the Doubletree lobby

Greg had to finish his paper, so Mom and I went shopping to give him some room. We went to the gift shop at the hotel and bought enough to keep them in business for a few days. We drove downtown and bought some more gifts -- we have a great deal of our Christmas shopping done, now. While cruising (yes, Mom and I can cruise) the streets, we passed a shop with a large sign on the door that simply said "Yarn." I think we circled the block 5 or 6 times trying to find a place to park. It wasn't easy, but the shop was calling me... We gave up for a little while and went to a sidewalk cafe to have a cookie and a cup of coffee. Parking was better when we returned to the yarn shop and we were able to park right in front. I have to say, we made sure that shop had a good sales day, too. I found several things I really wanted but just couldn't justify buying for myself. That's when it's nice to be shopping with your mother -- she pointed out that she needed ideas for Christmas gifts for me anyway so offered to buy them for me. Now, however, she is telling me that I actually have to wait for Christmas to get them! That's what shopping with your mom is like.


Our hotel lobby

We gave Greg a call to see how the paper was coming along and he was not finished yet so we went to a park to wait. Mom had her book and I had my knitting and we had a great (but chilly) hour. For supper, we went back to our little cafe with the great Reubens and ate while watching the World Series on their big screen TV. (They had some football game on but Mom asked them to change it and they did. Go Mom!)


This is (was, sob) the view from our terrace

Mesa Verde

Tuesday was a day of relaxation -- Greg took off on his bike and Mom and I relaxed. We sat on our terrace (yes, I said our terrace) drinking coffee and watching the river flow past our room. She had her book and I crocheted Christmas gifts. The weather was beautiful, the scenery (and leaves) were gorgeous, and the morning was just about perfect. We had lunch at a downtown cafe and then headed out to Mesa Verde National Park.


Greg drove, as usual, which was fine with me -- fine until we started climbing into the La Plata Mountains that surround the ruins. There is no guard rail and no shoulder -- it looks like about 12" of road separates your tires from an 8000 foot drop. Going up was bad enough but the trip down (trying to beat the sunset, no less) was gut-wrenching. It's not that I lack trust in Greg as a driver, it was just terrifying to me. He said that the worst part was having everyone pass him while he tried to go slowly to accommodate me. If you ever visit Mesa Verde, check the asphalt at the base of the mountain for a set of lip prints -- those would be mine.


Our room is at the far end of the hotel and one floor down from the restaurant where we have breakfast every morning (and it is a long hotel). Tuesday morning, Mom and Greg went ahead of me and I followed a few minutes later. I kept repeating to myself to take the elevator UP, take the elevator UP since I was having trouble remembering that the restaurant was above us. We had breakfast and they went back to the room while I checked out the gift shop. I then headed back to the elevator, still repeating my mantra, went up one floor, and started down the long hallway to our room. I was wishing I had a place to stop and rest my knee so I was only looking at the room numbers and counting the doors to our room. Once I got there, I could not get my key to work so I knocked on the door. I was not prepared to see the man who answered the door (he was not prepared to see me, either).

[This post has been a little late because Greg had a paper to write for (grad) school. Sorry if we kept you waiting.]

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is Dad's birthday and he is having to spend it alone since we dragged Mom off to Colorado. Send him an email and wish him a happy birthday!

Travels with Grandmom

Today (Monday) was our first full day in Durango. We had breakfast at our hotel this morning and had a table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Animas River. There was a trail running along the river and we saw many joggers, walkers, and cyclists pass us. We have even see one man in waders fly-fishing about 50 yards from our room. Seeing all the bicycles, I said that it was a shame that Greg didn't bring his bike. Durango has bike routes marked all over the city. Greg liked the idea and wondered if there might be a place he could rent one. We stopped at the front desk to ask and were soon on our way to Pedal the Peaks bike shop where he rented a trail bike for $25 a day. We brought it back to the hotel and he took off. Two hours later, Mom and I were sitting on our terrace enjoying the view and drinking our coffee when he rode up the trail and over to us. He had been all over Durango and was having a wonderful time. Getting the bike was the greatest idea we had had on this trip.


One thing we all really wanted to do on our vacation was to recreate our picnic at Lake Vallecito that we had in July, 2000. We searched for a KFC (gotta keep that re-creation accurate), got us a bucket of chicken, and headed for the lake. There were rumbles of thunder and a few showers as we drove up into the mountains surrounding the lake but all was clear and beautiful again by the time we reached the lake.

Greg was driving and I had forgotten that you have to drive across the dam at the south end of the reservoir to get to the picnic areas. This is not a nice two-lane road with guardrails -- it is a narrow lane with a sheer drop off on each side. As we sped merrily along, I watched both sides wondering whether I would prefer to fall off the right side and fall 50 feet to the bottom of the spillway or off the left side where the cold, deep water would break our fall. Fortunately, it is not a long drive and we arrived at the other side intact.

We then started our search for a picnic table. We had already commented that there were very few people around. This was not a surprise because October is well past the prime tourist season. Getting a table in a prime spot sounded simple. The first site we came to had a beautiful view of the lake and three empty tables. We pulled to the entrance only to find that it was gated and sported a sign announcing that this area was closed. This was disappointing, but there were many more good sites up ahead. As we neared each one, we saw the announcement - "This area closed." We finally reached the northern end of the lake and the end of the picnic areas -- no luck. We knew it was late in the season, but we didn't realize everything would be closed. There we were -- at the end of the road with our bucket of cooling chicken and no picnic table.


Fortunately, Greg had brought the bike since we knew there were bike trails all around the lake. We dropped him off and told him we would meet him back at the dam. He took his time and had a blast on the trails that zigzagged along the lake road. When he caught up with us at the dam, he came to the car and asked if I would let him ride back across the dam. I said "sure!" and he and Mom both looked at me and said "Really?" Hey, I'm not that strict and he is an adult. He took off and I told Mom that I hoped he wasn't a little nervous and counting on me to tell him "no." We followed behind to be sure he didn't fall off. I don't know what we would have done if he had -- neither one of us was going to dive in and save him. Anyway, it was all worth a cold bucket of chicken.

Notice the single aspen on the island


You can see that the lake level is very low this year because of low rainfall. The mountains back behind it are beautiful, though.

As most of you know, Mom has been through a knee replacement and a broken ankle in the last year, so this has been a difficult way to take a vacation. Just getting in and out of the car is quite a production but Greg has it down to an art. We park and he hops out, runs to the back, pulls out her crutches, and then comes around to the side to help ease her out of the back seat. (She has to ride with one knee elevated so she can't sit in front.) There is a comfortable arm chair in our room but we have learned how to shore it up with some pillows to keep her knee in the proper alignment. We don't want this attempt at a vacation to set her progress back any. It's a shame that her real participation has to be so limited, but she is enjoying a change of scenery as we drive.

Sleeping is also an issue. We have devised a system of pillows to keep her knee in the right position at the right elevation. The bedding here is very thick and heavy and the weight of it on the knee is painful so we stood an empty suitcase on the bed under the covers to raise them off of the knee. Monday night, she climbed into bed (the word climbed is not an exaggeration - these beds must be three feet off the ground), arranged her pillows behind her and under the knee, positioned the suitcase, and pulled the covers up. I made a comment about something on television, so she tried to see what I was talking about. The bedding was in the way so she tried to beat it down a bit with her hand. That didn't help so I offered to climb out of my bed and help her out, but she said "No no! I can do it myself!" She then grabbed one of her crutches and whacked herself in the foot. Mom, aim for the covers, not your feet. (And we wonder why she isn't getting any better)

A Whole Lotta Blinkin' Goin' On

We left Raton for Durango at about 8:30 Sunday morning but planned several stops and side trips along the way. We were curious to see how long the actual drive would take - Dad said 8 hours but Google Maps said 5 1/2. Normally, I trust Dad's travel instincts but Google Maps seemed so sure... Anyway, we drove to Taos, did some shopping and ate lunch, and then took a side trip through a scenic drive. We came at a perfect time -- the temperature during the day has been about 60 (colder in the upper elevations) with a very light breeze and almost no clouds. The aspens are a brilliant gold and look so beautiful against the dark pines and spruces. We have seen at least 100 antelope and almost that many deer and even passed a coyote trotting along the road. We stopped at a pottery shop high up in the mountains and took a tour; Mom bought a coffee mug and I wish I had bought one, too. We realized we had made too many stops, though, when it became apparent that we were not going to make it to Durango before dark (Dad-1, Google Maps-0).


Greg took this with my zoom lens

As I said, we had seen lots of antelope in New Mexico and were seeing more and more deer as we neared Colorado. This became a problem as we were driving that last leg from Pagosa Springs to Durango. Just before Pagosa Springs, we passed a car that had struck a deer. The deer was dead and the car didn't look much better; the entire front end was crushed. I was driving with Greg riding shotgun so we were both trying to watch the sides of the road. In Pagosa Springs, we saw an approaching car stop and a car in front of us stopped, as well. I tried to see what had happened and we realized that at least three deer had darted into the road. It was so dark that we could barely see them as they ran between the headlights. Ten minutes later, as we were leaving Pagosa Springs, a deer ran right at our car. Greg saw it just as I did and I hit the brakes and pulled off on the shoulder. The deer turned and missed us by what seemed like 6 inches. I thought the driver behind me had hit it but he managed to miss it, too. After the second close call, I felt like crawling the rest of the way. We noticed an oncoming car blinking his brights. Greg asked if I had my brights on and I said no but then a second car flashed his brights. Mom said that she thought they were trying to alert us to something so I slowed down to look and, sure enough, there was a deer standing on the road on my side. I stopped and he moved and we went on. As the next car approached us, the driver behind me blinked his lights at them. We decided that this was a friendly service expected while driving in the area. [This inspired Mom to name tonight's blog - notice that I am not the only one in my family who enjoys a bad pun.]

Our financial arrangement is that Mom and I are splitting gas, food, and lodging and Greg is paying for anything special he wants to do. For now, Mom is paying for the hotel room each night and I am paying for everything else. On the last day, we add up our expenses and whoever has paid less will pay the other to make things even. We stopped to eat in Taos and had the following conversation:
Mom: Oh no, I left my purse in the car.
Me: Do you need it? I'll be paying.
Mom: Oh that's right. I can't get used to you paying for everything.
Greg: Don't worry, Grandmom - it gets easier.
[He should know]

We have already taken close to 100 photos. I'll pick out a couple to put on each day. Here's a couple from our drive yesterday (I took the one of Greg and Greg took the one of the aspens and the river)

Vacation Day 1 - Raton, New Mexico

Whew, an early start today! Greg did a good job of getting up, getting the car packed, and being ready to walk out the door at 5:45 AM. We stopped in Amarillo for lunch at the Cracker Barrel (Greg and I twisted Grandmom's arm until she gave in) and made it to Raton by 5:00 Mountain Time. We stopped about every two hours so we could get out and stretch. One rest stop would have been a bit of a stretch for some family members:

Dad and John, this photo is for you

Greg always has to get a sunset photo (this morning, he could have had a sunrise photo, too, but he just wasn't motivated enough). This is the view from our hotel room.

Before we left, Andrea told Greg that she wanted him to have a good time but she didn't want any more mysterious women appearing in hot tubs with him. Most of you have seen our optical illusion shot from our last vacation together. Almost everyone who looks at it says "I don't see anything odd -- it's two people sitting in a hot tub." Except, of course, Greg was all alone at the time. I took the shot and can attest to that but we might have trouble convincing Andrea a second time.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning, have lunch in Taos, and be in Durango by late afternoon. We'll try to avoid those mysterious women and have an update tomorrow night.

Things are moving more "swift"ly now

If I can't show photos of my work in progress, I can at least talk about the complication this organic cotton yarn has brought to my life. For some reason, the more expensive a hank of yarn is, the less likely it is to come in a pullout skein. That means that it needs to be rolled into a ball before attempting to knit with it. To accomplish this, the yarn is untwisted from the hank and then held in place while the winding takes place. This was not a problem when Greg was here -- he could usually be persuaded to hold the yarn looped between his outstretched hands while I rolled it. Now that Greg is out on his own, I need a new yarn holder. I tried several arrangements -- first looping the yarn around large cans and then around two chairs placed back to back. I was making progress at one time by holding the yarn on my feet that in turn were propped up on the coffee table. This looked like it had a chance of success until it caught the attention of my cat, Rudy. It took me over an hour to disentangle my feet, yarn, and one unhappy cat. Somewhere in the mess, I decided it was time to invest in a yarn swift.

My new yarn swift

Swifts date back to the 18th century. According to Wikipedia:

One substitute for a swift is to have someone else hold the skein. This has several disadvantages however, first a willing second person has to be found, and secondly unless the other person has had a lot of practice holding skeins, the yarn winds off a swift much better.

Apparently, yarn-holders like Greg have always been hard to come by. Another knitting website mentions that yarn swifts "are lovely to look at even when not in use." You be the judge. I suppose I could hang ornaments on it to create a faux Christmas tree (a faux fir?) or hang catnip mice on it to use as a cat exerciser.
This was also my first purchase from eBay -- history meets modern technology (and certainly beats my feet)!

It sounded like such a good idea at the time...

Like so many other dubiously-inspired goals, the thought of a knitting/needlework blog sounded like such a good idea at the time. It would be fun to publish photos of my works-in-progress and could even be an incentive when that extra push is needed to get past a rough spot. I even knew what that first, exciting shared project would be because it was freshly finished and I was still basking in the glow of a completed goal.

The Problem

The problem? It is a gift. A gift as in "surprise! look what I made for you!" A gift as in "posting it on a public web page for all eyes to see will negate all the fun of the surprise." A gift that will need to remain unseen just a little longer. Sigh...

No problem! This project, which I will now refer to as Project A, may have been my primary focus over the last few months but it is certainly not the only project in my [knitting] bag of tricks. For example, I recently purchased some rather expensive organic cotton (no pesticides, no herbicides, no dyes) to make ... another gift. Hmmm - I am sensing a trend here. I suppose I can post updates for Project Organic's progress but, with no photos or descriptions, it sounds a little dull.

Looking through my knitting bag, I see no shortage of projects but I could run into a dearth of suitable ambiguous descriptions. Every single thing in that bag is destined to be a surprise for someone with "surprise" being the operative word. It might be better to revisit some old projects. At least I can publish their photos.