Hike on, new book, and finishing UFOs

Part of the preparation for the backpacking trip to Philmont is not only hiking, but also camping.  The Crew joined the Troop traveling to Cascade River State Park  on the northeastern tip of Minnesota for the weekend.  

Three of our personal tents.  Jim and I used Big Agnes, center) and will most likely take it with us to Philmont.  The "Darth Vader" tent on the left is one that Jim has had for a very long time.  

The woods surrounding the campsite was beautiful.  

Wildflowers were in bloom in camp and on the trail.

Shiny silvery birch tree bark.

Early morning spider web.

The spiders were busy on Saturday night.

Jim and I pose at the Root Beer Falls.

About that brown water...there is a reason for it in a text at the lookout point:

Why does the river look like Root Beer?  Is the river polluted?  NO!  

The brown color comes from the water that drains out of the swamps and bogs into the river.  The decaying organic matter in the swamps creates humic acid.  This is what colors the water brown.  The foam comes from the water tumbling over the rocks and waterfalls.  The aerated water with the humic acid and natural organic matter causes the foam.  Some of the dark color comes from iron deposits located along the river's course.  How do we know it's not pollution?  Because there isn't any development along the 17 miles of the Cascade River.  The Root Beer look of the Cascade River comes from all natural ingredients.  

Perhaps a gnome home?

Treading carefully over the roots!  I managed to slip and fall near the river.

By the end of the day we hiked 10.2 miles with our packs loaded with gear, maintained the lightning position twice on the trail, and opted to return to the campsite to wait out the storms Saturday evening.  Anybody not ready?  Hike on!

Sunday morning was glorious and cool.  The troop returned to camp (they opted to wait out the early storms and stayed at a camp on the trail). We broke camp and headed back home.  On the way we stopped at the visitor center in Duluth to stretch and take in the lovely view.

On Wednesday after weaving I made a trip to JoAnn, ETC for some ribbon to line the knitted strap for the wee Shetland bag.  I was a bit frustrated with the selection and quality of what was available, but I found some twill tape that will work and will somewhat blend in with the strap's colors.  I walked by the book section and the cover of this book caught my eye.  It is a pattern book by Lotta Jansdotter, a Swedish designer based in Brooklyn, New York. It is packed with photos and five simple sewing patterns--skirt, dress, blouse, pants/shorts, and jacket/coat as well as colorful accessories. The clothes are modeled through four seasons by Lotta's friends.  

Taking a peek inside at the five basic patterns and one of the accessories.

Sketches show the basic shapes of the garments with fabric swatches.

I would love to shop for fabric where Lotta shops!

The wee Shetland bag is blocked and ready for the finishing touches.  I had the pieces finished soon after the Shetland trip, but lost focus and it waited patiently in a bag.  I watched an old movie, Rose Marie, whilst weaving some yarn ends and steam blocking the pieces.  I will most likely line the bag with muslin so I can see to the bottom!

Another project with fond memories in every stitch.

For Wednesday weaving I warped the loom with the leftover neutral colors of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted.  There is a LOT of warp, too.  The leftover colors from various projects with the same yarn is the weft.  I hope to use up most of the yarn for the yardage.  What I will do with it when finished is anybody's guess.  At least it will keep me busy on Wednesdays for awhile.

Weaving a top

Last week on Weaving Wednesday I warped my loom for the first half of the top.  Using the shape of a top from the book I got last month, I worked out the calculations and Mary helped me with the warp.  Kathryn was out of town, so we just plowed through and with lots of laughing Mary and I managed just fine.  I believe Kathryn would be proud.  I went through the stash at home and found some fluffy wool that looked wonderful in the small section I sampled along with a second sample of using the warp yarn for the weft.  I liked the white until I began to weave with it...too fluffy, too sticky, and removed after a few passes of the shuttle.  The warp yarn was not what I wanted either because it looked boring.  This morning I dug through my handspun stash and found a lovely tweed in what I think will be enough for the top.  Now I am ready for Weaving Wednesday!

 

I liked the texture of the white wool but the warp as weft was less than inspiring
for a large project.  

29.04.16 Weaving along!  Kathryn's husband, Steven, came to take our photo on Wednesday for the magazine.  One side of my top is almost complete.  Fortunately I took the time to remeasure the length and was just shy in a couple of spots.  On Wednesday I unwove the sleeve so I could add a bit more to the body to make the full 12-inches under the arm.  Time goes quickly when you work as a group because of all the chatting and support.  Now to gather the yarn snippets and put my thoughts into 800 words.

The body of the weaving is on the left and the waste yarn filling in the side before the sleeve is on the right.

The sleeve is finished and the other side of the body is in progress.  Small safety pins mark the measurements:  12-inches below the sleeve, 20-inches for the sleeve (to be folded), and 12-inches below the other side of the sleeve.

Disengaging the forward pawl relaxes the tension and I can get an accurate measurement.

It is almost Shepherd's Harvest Festival time!  I am taking the felted sheep rug class taught by Linda Johnson-Morke  and then doing a demo on top-whorl spindle spinning, although not on the same day.  I will be curious to see how many steps I chalk up in the foot stomping part of the felting process.  This week an email came from  Marcia of Joxer's Jacobs. ChiChi's fleece is available, which is hard to resist.  I'm waiting to hear the weight and price.  Last year's was a perfect 3.3 pounds, beautifully skirted.

On the needles is the ribbing for the second woven hat.  As of today the temperature is more spring-like and this will be the perfect weight for cool mornings and evenings.  What a difference a day makes; yesterday was cold with rain showers and today is sunny and warmer.

Working the ribbing on the beanie hat.

 Last weekend five of us from the Crew took the Wilderness First Aid class.  The CPR portion was on Friday evening and the first aid on Saturday and Sunday.  The scenarios were helpful and we had to MacGyver the materials on hand to create splints, stretchers, and such to help the victims.

A screen with gauges at the waist of Ambu Man pops up for the responders to see if the compressions and breaths are correctly administered.  If the compressions are off the proper spot on the chest, it makes a clicking sound.

Jim was a victim with hypothermia and became a human burrito.

 Jim's birthday was this week and I made his favorite cake for the occasion. There were only two candles, but the rest were implied.  It would have been a mess to light more ;^).

Happy birthday, Jim!

Ben made reservations at Pittsburgh Blue for a family celebration.

Getting in the 10,000 steps daily is not difficult and helps to keep in shape for the upcoming backpacking trip.  Geese, ducks, and birds have returned as well as the green grass and leaves on the trees.  

On the walk...the geese were sounding the alarm while protecting a nest.

I love the way the morning light highlighted the birch tree.
Ever watchful white birch trees are so pretty.  

Back from the Land of Enchantment

We have been back from Philmont since Sunday.  I caught up the laundry and now have to work on putting away camping gear.  It was a very busy July.
The trip to New Mexico was so much fun.  Jim and I enjoyed our courses--he took Round Table and I took T-BOS (Training--Basic Outdoor Skills).  I will be adjusting my schedule this year so I can help Jim with Round Table and besides--I miss being there and will probably be using my new certification to teach Basic Outdoor Skills!  

Ben was able to take his three-days-in-a-row off while we were there.  It was wonderful to see him and spend some time with him.  Ben is so happy to be trekking in the back country.  He takes a crew out for a total of four days, hikes back into base camp, and then takes out another crew the next day.  On his time off, he hikes.  What an experience for him.  He showed me some of his photographs from the trail and they are just amazing.  

As always, the folks at Philmont (whether at PTC--the training center, on staff, or participants) are very nice.  We all share a love of Scouting and meeting others from all over this great country.  Steffers, our tent city staffer, made Dutch oven cobblers two times over our stay.  What a good treat after a long day; AND with ice cream!  On Wednesday, the day off, we decided not to go into Taos.  Instead we spent time in camp at the craft building making a belt for Ben, tie-dying vests, and branding stuff.  The buffalo burger cookout was tasty and it was Ben's first opportunity to partake of the good food.  Jim copied the little Dutch oven cookbook to distribute at the Scouting Midway.  I also got a couple of good recipes to put in this year's updated version!  Steffers even tried Ben's recipe for S'Mores cobbler later in the week.  It was very popular.  

In New Mexico and on the road to Philmont

Sign on a Com Truck

What Scouts wore in the early days.

Our home in South Tent City--we did a bit of decorating for fun!  I am whittling a neckerchief slide.

Moon over the Tooth of Time 

My course instructors made a floating flagpole.  It even lasted through a couple of storms.

These little birds flew the coop by the end of our stay.  They were right in front of our classroom.

Ben pays us a visit

Steffers unveils Dutch oven goodness!

My morning view from the tent

On the way to the Tooth of Time Traders 

My turn!

Ben's home away from home.

Dennis dressed as a Webelo with his bag of patches for the kids. 

Ben and some of his Ranger friends.  They hiked Baldy the next day.

Inside Villa Philmonte in one of the New Mexico rooms.  It is said the  buffalo charged
 and his head got stuck.

One of the lovely sunsets.

This was our sunset the day before we left.   As I was taking  this photo,
Linda, a classmate of Jim's, was singing a moving rendition of "America."

...and so summer begins.

It's that time of year.  Ben and Zach headed to camp.  It's been nice to have Ben home for a bit and Zach for a couple of days.  I finished Gery Grey Wolf and he'll be going to camp this weekend.  I do believe Eevee will miss him.  We think his new look is quite handsome.

I finished the Faye Jacket and it just needs a couple of ends woven and blocking.  Why I decided to sew it together before blocking is a puzzlement, but I was NOT going to take it apart!  It's really a nice design.  In hindsight, I could have planned the cable transition for the shoulders a bit better.  The bobbles on the front shoulders are gone.  I secured the stitches above and below on the wrong side, and then clipped the bobble in the middle and undid it--surprising how much yarn those take.  I duplicate stitched to close the holes and it looks good.  Too bad it's not blocked.  This morning is chilly and it would feel cozy.

The other sweater is still partially done.  One sleeve to finish and one to go.  Lace patterns and raglan sleeve shaping = no fun.

10.06.10 

I finished myfaye and found buttons pretty quickly today.  I can put this one away until fall, unless it becomes chilly before then.  Gery is finished and off to camp.  I've been going through stuff lately.  Time to purge.  The kitchen re-do will happen later this summer.  Lots going on!

Yesterday I went through the stash.  I have a nice project stash and spinning stash.  The Tour de Fleece is coming up and the chocolate covered cherries and cormo/silk will be the projects for the event.