Offline for Awhile

   

     Last weekend before Hip Surgery on Monday.  Planting 2 raised beds with perennials (actually I picked out the plants, my hubby will plant them).  After we moved last year I really miss my plants.  I got some of my old friends and I'll add some through the summer while they bloom, like a Daisy in July and a Purple Coneflower in August, paired with a black- eyed Susan.  Favorites of mine.

  I'll be off the grid for a bit, focusing on healing.  Knitting and Reading, of course.  Six weeks to the dot from Surgery (recovery time with restrictions) I got a two night reservation in a Vermont State Park to camp.  We're on the way to stay with my 90 yr old father in the Adirondacks,  in a family vacation cottage.  The Dr OKd a trip in 2 parts from Maine; but he won't allow me to boat in with the rest of my family into camp in guide boats on the Upper Ausable Lake.  Sigh.  But good time to spend with my Dad who doesn't go in "glamping" with the rest of the family. Glamping is a very posh way to camp in old style rambling camps with fully functioning totally awesome kitchen, bathrooms but no electricty.  I always opt for the leanto on the lake with mosquito netting and a large fire pit.  S'mores anyone?

     The trip home is my birthday and we'll spend again 2 days camping in Vermont.  I like a tent but now we have nice cushy cots.

Wednesday's Yarns: Tidelines

 

     Tidelines designed by Janina Kallio is a very stress relieving knit and beautiful.   Simplicity is embraced in this knit alternating garter sections with fishnet lace and eyelets.  I love the result.

     Knit in a Malabrigo, my favorite single ply finger weight Malabrigo Mechita Yarn in Ninfas.  Colors that echo the many lakes and forests from Maine, through Vermont to the High Peaks in Upstate New York.  I grabbed it out of stash for my camping trip in the Adirondacks last week.  Perfect for a road trip.

     I just finished Cold Lake by Jeff Carson and it was definitely a roller coaster ride keeping me up to midnight last night.  The ending leaves you a bit sad and with some mysteries unsolved; but the series continues with book 6 Smoked Out and hopefully I'll get some answers and more sleep.  Yup it's all the books fault, not my sometimes lack of time management no matter how hard I try.  The David Wolf series makes it doubly harder with cliffhangers seemingly just when my bedtime arrives.   What's a girl to do?

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Wednesday's Yarns: Autopilot Cowl

 

      I finished my hat out of Chroma Worsted Yarn, a super soft single ply wool from Knitpicks.  It's %70 Superwash Wool in a gorgeous pallette of color combos.  The hat was very appreciated for the first night of camping at 32° and my LLBean sleeping bag (rated 40°) did well zipped up over my head with the hat and piles of fleece blankets.  The next days got warmer.  

     And the trees were popped out from inland Maine to Vermont.  The Adirondacks were so pretty.  The new leaves glistening in sunlight.  So, so appreciated after a long cold winter.  It was a nice break.  

       

                        Simple Slouch Hat

     After finishing up my hat I had a lot of Chroma Worsted left in colors Lake Front and Fathoms.  I did a search of projects on Ravelry done in Chroma and found Autopilot.   A really easy, rythmic knit that produces a gorgeous cowl.

                         anmar's Autopilot

                        Domknit's Autopilot

     I'm still reading the David Wolf books by Jeff Carson on Kindle Unlimited.  I intended to only read one as I waited for my next CJ Box, Joe Pickett book.  They're great high paced adventure, murder mystery books about a Colorado Sheriff named David Wolf.  It's takes place in a small town deep in the Rocky Mountains.  I'm on my 4th book Deadly Conditions where Wolf just skied after the murder suspect but ended up over the cliffs.  The recent snow fall saved him.  Bad guy gets away unidentified.  I'm enjoying them.  But I need to get back to Joe Picket! My husband is reading them too and he is gaining on me, and I miss Joe.

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Wednesday's Yarns: My Camping Slouchy Hat

 

     We're off to camp in the Adirondacks this weekend.   I got a nice tent site in the only May 1st campground open near the High Peaks.  Two new cots and extra mattress should be a step up from our usual sleeping on the ground.  That should feel like deluxe camping.  My favorite part is when my husband gets the fire going and we curl up by the fire.  Hot tea for me, coffee for him.  Grilled Veggie burgers and S'mores at night. Going to get cold at night, I'm bringing lots of fleece blankets and my hubby got me a very soft LL Bean flannel sleeping bag.  

     The last week I picked up an old hat I started back for the Science Day March and I ran out of yarn.  It was an older color of yarn Preciosa that I loved but was discontinued.  So when looking at a different yarn at Knitpicks called Chroma Worsted I noticed the same color Lake Front.  It is almost a perfect match. The new colors just have more pop and are very soft and so nice to work with.  I did cut out a wide swatch of bright Pea yellow green, saving it for another time, and then matched up the stripes almost seamlessly.  Perfect, really looks like the same yarn.  Only difference is the Preciosa was %100 Wool and Chroma is %70 Superwash Wool, which is a total plus for donated hats.  Maybe these will be my go-to donated hats this year.  With a slightly bulky worsted yarn and size #9 needles even I, a slow knitter, got it done in less than a week. 

     The pattern is an old favorite of mine that is super comfortable and goes up quick.  They also make great hats to donate since they fit a lot of different people and Slouch is so in.   Simple Slouch Hat

     I started reading a very gripping series on my Kindle (Kindle Unlimited) while I waited for my Joe Pickett books to arrive.  They did, and in perfect new condition for $4 each from Book Outlet.  But in the meantime I got hooked on this other book series by an author that grew up reading CJ Box, Baldacci  and Lee Child (my husband's favorite) and patterned his books on them.  So these are a bit more ramped up but most of them are in Colorado with awesome descriptions of scenery.  Good fun reads by Jeff Carson; The David Wolf series.

Wednesday's Yarns: Knits to do While Reading

 

     I absolutely love to read.  I've been hooked since 9 when I started reading a series of biographies on the bottom shelf of the library.  Nice ones on Florence Nightengale, and George Washington Carver.  Easy reading, but memorable.   I graduated to Laura Ingalls Wilder next year, and Little Women the following.  At some point the following year I tried The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich (on my Mother's shelves).  I didn't get far.  Not that I blame myself, I tried the Audible of it last year and it was too dark to continue.   My school years were always dominated by the thickest books I could find. I breezed through Middle Earth and stories of talking Moles and Watership Down.  I rarely was without a book. 

     So I now I do love to knit.  A passion of mine that the very thought calms me in stress or warms my heart if I'm down.  But sit and just knit seems to now elude me.  I now know how to knit while reading.  Over time I found my fingers found the stitches for me while I'm reading.  My Mom gave me a Leather Book Weight by The Vermont Country Store decades ago and that can prop a hardback book open on my lap or table.  A paperback is easily subdued with a huge monster hair clip on top and now I have a Paperwhite Kindle that has a cover that props it open.  So knitting has to be arranged according to how easily I can knit it while reading.  Some projects getting more attention because they're easy to knit.  Bulky or Worsted wt is great for feeling the stitches.  My circular Shawl of finger weight is so simple because it has no end.  Hats, oh the ease of hats.  I once came out of surgery and before my eyes opened I asked for the hat I was knitting.  It calmed me down since the world was spinning.  Yup, a circular needle and a nice thick worsted and my fingers can see.

     My favorite knits right now are the Planispiral Shawl featured in the blog post: Wednesday'sYarns: Planispiral Shawl.  My nice worsted Shawl out of a Denim colored yarn called Jeans in the post: Wednesday'sYarns: Grab'n Go Triangular Shawl and my Fluff Shawl knits from 2 Yarns- Wednesday'sYarns: Fluff Shawl.  All really super to knit & read with.

     I'm still reading the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box.  I finished Out of Range, book 5 (another great book) yesterday and I read the sample to book 6 In Plain Sight today.  My husband suggested I get paperbacks to save money after I explained how frustrated I was with the price of downloading the books.  The new paperbacks were a buck cheaper.  Then I found a used bookstore online for overstocked books.  So not really used, and supposedly, according to the site in good shape.  Only $4 a book at Book Outlet.  But the key is to get a large enough amount of books to justify the $6 shipping.  So I've ordered my next books, enough to cover a month and a half at a book a week.  I have surgery in a month and we're also camping next week and I want my books.  The downside is I'm stuck without Joe Pickett for 24 hrs!  Fortunately, I found a really good series on my Kindle Unlimited called Foreign Deceit: A David Wolf Mystery Thriller by Jeff Carson.  Exciting, starts in Colorado (always a good thing since I miss Colorado), is action-packed,  yet has great little details about the beautiful scenery.  I mean the smells of Colorado, the smell of pines in the air.  The weather, how clouds form behind a mountain and you can see the storm approach.  I know exactly what he's describing - life in the high country.  And the author has a believable main character.  The writing is also good.  So I might have competition for Joe. 

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Wednesday's Yarns: Grab'n Go Triangular Shawl

     

      A favorite knit designer of mine is Brome Fields.  I love the simplicity of her designs and also that I feel she designs the things I would of wanted to design myself.  She's also prolific.  Having tons of hat, shrugs, shawls and other things designed.  A lot of those designs are in Lion's Thick & Quick yarn which is inexpensive and fairly nice for a department store yarn; containing a bit of wool, but not too much to make itchy for sensitive skin types like me.  I find you can always upscale a design by sourcing a pure Wool, or Wool and Alpaca blend.  So when I got an email about Spring & Summer designs I jumped to check it out.  I so love a tranquil, meditative knit for when I read; having learned to do both at the same time if simple (Hint: a Paperwhite Kindle is great for this in a cover that props up; but for hard back books check out Vermont Store's Leather Bookweight for a propped up book on your lap, or table while you knit). 

     The Shawl Grab'n Go, an asymmetrical shawl leapt out of her new Spring & Summer collection to me.  It's knit up on 2 DK wt Yarns or 1 Worsted and she suggests using your stash yarn.  I've been trying this past year to use up my stash yarn and to work to finish already started projects.  One worsted wt yarn I had but I was on the verge of donating when we moved was called Jeans by Lion Brand.  But I loved it, it was so pretty and soft, so I saved it and now I thought this would make a perfect light weight Summer shawl.  I'm so in love with the results so far.  Easy to memorize pattern and very light and soft and pretty.

What I'm Reading📚 

     I'm still reading the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box.  Wow, what an adventure! I love Joe.  Honest, to a fault yet friends with a guy who has some sort of secret operative background who obviously knows how to kill.  Joe defends him a previous book and they become buddies.  His friend Nat is also a Falconer that is teaching Joe's daughter the skill.  By the 4th book Tophy Hunt the books get a bit more gritty dealing with animal mutilation (a true life unexplained phenomenon that occurred in the 1970s among cattle in the West).  I'm nearing the end and the book is very good, some gruesome details not withstanding.  I'll be onto the 5th book Out of Range today.

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Wednesday's Yarns: Fluff Shawl

                                                                 

     I have several knitting projects going.  I like to swap them out depending on yarn size and ease of knitting, or simply how excited I am about a piece.  One knit I reach for daily is my Fluff Shawl.  It's an asymmetrical shawl and a very easy knit I've memorized.   The fun thing about it is its texture and looks.  I'm making it out of a super thin strand of yarn called cobweb that my oldest daughter gave me.  It's a wool, silk, and alpaca blend with marvelous colors that pop out.  I married it with a Lace Alpaca called Alpaca Cloud Lace from Knitpicks.  Together they formed a perfect blend of dark soft yarn with lovely bright colors peeking through.  The Shawl pattern itself makes a very lofty textured fabric that feels so soft and light and it's lovely to work with I'm excited to see its finished results.

What I'm Reading Now 📚 

     I'm totally hooked on the C J Box Joe Pickett series.  I'm nearly done with book 3 Winterkill and I'm fairly breathless from reading.  The action at the end is non-stop and I seem to hit these seriously exciting, riveting spots just when I'm supposed to go to bed.  What's a girl to do?  Leave Joe leaping over snow in his snowmobile to rescue his soon-to-be adopted daughter?  Sigh, getting enough sleep is seriously an issue with these books.  They are that good.  Thankfully Joe the Wyoming Forest Ranger has many adventures in many books.  I even got my husband to start reading them.  What fun, now we can even talk about Joe and his adventures together.  One discussion revolved around did CJ Box create the mysterious endangered weasel-like creature in the first book or is it real?  (Hint: The answer can be found in a web search in an author-inspired conversation. )

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