ridin' & knittin'

Horses!

2011-09-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

I will have to run out and get a picture to add to the blog, but just wanted to say that I have been keeping the horses in the dry lot because the ground is so wet. Well Shad and Biz apparently decided that they had had enough last night and completely mangled the gate. I will go get a bull gate this weekend. Let's see how they do with that!

Great Lesson this morning

2011-09-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

Had a super lesson from Tiffany this morning. Rode Shad and we have been working on better suppleness & engagement for him and better sitting for me - more upright and also being supple in my left shoulder. The three takeaways for today are 1) "ride for the 10" from the get-go. 2) Maintain straightness on the right side - really push the right hind leg up into the right rein for a stronger right hind. 3) Maintain a supple connection to the left bridle and ride almost with a feeling of left flexion to help soften the left side of the body.

Shad pic for the day (from earlier in the year)

Also started a moebius with some of my own handspun yarn - first project with my own yarn! Woot!

Gosh!

2011-09-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe that I haven't posted in so long!

Much water under bridge. Knitted a ton of stuff. Bought a new horse.

Speaking of which, he decided to rip off a chunk of hoof this morning, so thought I would share an oogie picture!

It's now all wrapped up and he's in the stall. He should be able to go out on the dry lot, but we will need to monitor the bandage to keep everything clean.

On the bright side, one of my latest shawls. I totally love it!

Les Abeilles

2010-11-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

New shawl

Chicken Curry

2010-06-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

So I "invented" a new recipe last night.

For chicken curry, I used:

1/2 c half & half
1 can chicken stock
2 carrots
1/2 apple (I would have used a whole one, but there was a half in the frig)
1 clove garlic (next time more)
About 2 tsp of fresh ginger - sliced a few disks and tossed them in the blender
1 heaping Tablespoon of commercial curry powder
about 2 tsp cumin
A dash of red pepper

Buzz it all up in the blender

I browned the chicken (forgot to check weight - 5 big boneless thighs, cut into bite sized pieces) and cooked some brown rice on the side. Once the chicken was brown, I drained the pan and added my concoction and then just let it simmer.

It came out pretty good. Next time, I will try it with coconut milk instead of cream and will add garlic. It wasn't as creamy as I would like so will also think about how to thicken it properly.

Sunny Florida

2010-06-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Visiting Florida for my sis's 50th. The gang is mostly all here. Very relaxing. Can't figure out how to add photos from the iphone. Maybe when I get home.

Now that I am home, I will pop a few photos up.

I managed to catch this pelican taking off from the water - ungainly, then flying, so beautiful and smooth!

I always pick up little shells on the beach that catch my eye and then wind up tossing them. So this time, I captured the shells with a photo!

Friday afternoon, quite a storm blew in. It was beatiful though!

Some big dog snow here!

2010-02-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

We had a massive snowstorm here over the weekend. At least massive for us!

Hank blowing snow (there was just too much snow for the loader to push!)

Aftermath - a corgi-level view of the path to the barn and the partially cleared driveway. More pics on the webpage - SNOW!

New Shawl

2010-01-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

Just finished the Baltic Blossoms shawl by Evelyn Clark. Lovely quick knit and it came out beautiful (if I say so myself!).

As usual, photographing red yarn is very difficult! But the blocking pic came out okay. Will have to get some outside shots.

Day Five

2010-01-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

Day five was really fun. Things were definitely starting to come together. Callas was standing at the hitching rail like an old trail horse. Shad was pretty much snoozing on the high line.

We decided to work on getting Callas more comfortable in the round pen under tack. She was much better than yesterday, but as I moved her back and forth between trot/walk to get her a little more settled before she cantered, she was still a little tense. I kind of felt like she was "waiting for the other shoe to fall" and finally just asked her to canter even though I wasn't quite happy with how the trot transitions looked. She moved right up into the canter like butter and offered a beautiful easy relaxed canter. Hmmm. Interesting.

I asked her back down to the trot and she hollowed and tensed a little. I talked to Kathleen about it some and she suggested moving her back and forth between a biggish trot and a smaller trot vs switching gaits entirely. So we did that for a little while. The days are running together a little in my mind, so I don't remember which day we talked about it, but we had talked earlier about Shadow going to the zoned out place in the trot. Kathleen noted that wild horses do their traveling in a long trot and that place is an easy place for horses to go, so it's important to break it up and keep their attention. As I worked with Callas at the trot, I realized that I wanted to use just a hint of that zoned out feeling to help her get more comfortable at the trot. She got really good at moving up and back at the trot. We finished up by tieing a lariat on each side of the saddle so that she could feel something funny bumping her sides. She tensed up a teeny bit, but quickly relaxed again. She rocked! Great way to finish the week with Callas!

Shad felt much better after his session with the chiro. We walked and trotted and cantered and he was nice and easy going throughout. Forgot to mention on one of our earlier rides, we had talked about how he tends to travel bent right in both directions. I have already done the "stick a spur in ribs" thing and the "hold him in a shape" thing in the past and they don't help much . Kathleen had suggested that I lift the left rein to my left shoulder and hold it until I get a try at a left shape, then release, and that had worked really nicely. As we warmed up, I needed to do that less and less, which was pretty neat. Because I work alone so much of time, Shad isn't really used to working with other horses in the ring. Hilary was riding Tuesday and every time we got near them, Shad would tense up just a little in his whole body. I used the same idea to soften that brace and that also went away really quickly. We never did get to jumping, which was one of the things that I wanted to do, but between his separation anxiety and the body work that needed to get done, I am still very content with what we accomplished. We did trot over ground poles a bunch and he was totally cool with that and I have some ideas about how I want to try to get the jumping working. Have to wait for the ground to thaw up here anyhow. I was fussing about how cold it was in SC, but it is WAY colder here!

There were a couple of little epiphanies that were pretty cool.

Standards & Leading. Both of my horses had gotten to have quite a push when leading. At home, it hadn't been a huge issue because there wasn't that escalation with a strange place and wanting to get back to the buddies, but it was there. I realized as the week went on that I have been nagging at them, instead of being crystal clear about how I want them to lead. I found out that when they were troubled, it was taking a full minute or more to get their attention back to me for more than a passing glance. I raised my standard – if they got distracted and started coming over top of me, I sent them back with the rope and then asked them to look at me by popping their attention off what ever it was they were looking at. It was amazing how hard it was for either of them to just focus on me instead of everything else. But both of them were very similar about this - when they did LOOK at me, their eye softened, and they dropped their heads and waited for me. By Friday, they were both pretty solid and it only took a moment to get them back if I lost them. Lesson was not to let the little distractions grow into a big brace.

On Friday, as I was shifting Callas between a big trot and a smaller trot, she
broke back to the walk. Almost without thinking, I pushed her back up to the
trot. For the first time, instead of thinking "oops, I made a mistake", I
thought "that was a little too much draw". It's maybe a small distinction, but
for me, it was a big shift in perspective. Kathleen talks a lot about
"information gathering" which IMO is a really good way to approach working with
horses. For me, being able to say "that didn't work quite like I expected" is
going to be a much more beneficial approach to riding and training than "oops, I
made a mistake"

All in all, it was a really wonderful week. Kathleen was so great to work with
and Hilary, my co-student, was a peach. Although I didn't write about her
sessions, it was so beneficial to watch her work and to watch her feel and
timing (which were already pretty nice) get even more precise as the week went
on. Highly recommend a week with Kathleen if you can manage it!

Day Four

2010-01-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

Did a little round pen work with Shad this am. He was delightful! Very easy, soft and responsive. The slightest change in focus from my core would bring him up or down. The draw in to me still isn't as soft as I would like, but it was way better. The chiro arrived around ten and I had her look at him. She found him to be very locked up in his right hip/sacrum and very rigid along his whole back. There was a nit of "stuff" in his left hock but she thought that was compensation for the right side issues. She gave me a couple of things to do with him that she thought would be helpful.

Before she got there I had jumped on in the western saddle and was trying the stirrups Kathleen uses on one of her saddles. They are offset and were super comfy. I think I will probably get a set. I don't remember the name of the gal who makes them. Maybe Kathleen will chime in. It
was funny because the saddle is new and I was a little bummed because I wasn't really liking how it felt, but once I changed out the stirrups, it felt way better! Sort of an interesting aside - the chiro arrived while I was still riding in the western saddle and observed that I had a dressage seat. Pretty good eye!

At this point, Callas is an old hand on the high line. She has spent several hours there each day and is pretty happy to stand quietly with an infreqent whinny for Shad, so she graduated from the high line to the hitching rack today. She did get herself turned around on the wrong side of the rack - didn't quite work out like she had planned as there were bushes and pine trees on that side and they were poking her in the behind. She couldn't figure out how to get back around and was getting a little worried, but one of the other folks there went over and re-situated her. She was quite steady after that, perking up a little when people or horses went by, but no hollering at all. It was neat to see how she took the lesson from the high line and applied it to the hitching rail.

One of the other things I had been talking about with Kathleen was my feeling of reluctance to ride (and specifically canter) Callas. Since she had gotten so anxious Wednesday when I tacked her up after the round pen work, today I wanted to look at how she did with tacking up - specifically bridling in this case because I didn't have any funny vibe on the saddling stuff like I did with bridling. So we took her in the round pen again because she was feeling pretty comfy in there and just checked in. She was a bit distracted at first, but came back pretty quickly.

Kathleen observed that she would really like to see her come in ok from the git-go, but that would probably come with a bit more consistent work, especially since she was settling so quickly and offering some big tries. Then we worked on bridling. She showed a bit of a brace when I went to bridle her, so Kathleen took her for a few minutes and played around with how she felt. She suggested that I ask Callas to curl her head around towards me but to be sure that I keep
that soft. If I have her curled around but still bracey it doesn't do any good.

Then we popped the Western saddle on and I sent her back out in the round pen. She was a little tense and bracey in the walk and trot but clean broke in two when I asked her to canter. I was a little bit "deer in the headlights" - it wasn't totally unexpected, but I am in awe of how that mare can buck! Kathleen reminded me to keep asking for canter and finally after a couple of circuits bucking around, she finally leveled out into a try at the canter. Kathleen said to notice her breathing. She was gulping and gasping for air. One of the things we waiting for was nice rhythmic breaths. It took a little while for her to settle and then she had another little blow up shortly after we switched sides. Kathleen observed that she really understands her job now in
the round pen without tack, so the next step is to help her get more comfortable
wearing tack. She got so that she could transition between all three gaits
pretty respectably. She was trying really hard, so that was cool to see.

Day Three

2010-01-12T04:46:00.000-08:00

Today we started with Callas in the round pen and Shad on the high line. He was still agitated but a little steadier and not calling so much. By the time we finished with Callas, he had gotten to where he could stop his feet completely and just hang out a little, so that was pretty cool.

In general, I find Callas to be a much easier horse for me to work with in the round pen than Shadow. She started off pretty energized though – trotting off as soon as I asked her to start working. I offered her a draw to get her to come back down, but I still needed to move in front of her to get the down transition at first. Kathleen talked about deciding how many steps was she
allowed to take before I upped the ante. "The standard" was something we talked about a lot over the course of the week. What was my standard here? – I said I wanted her to transition right away and Kathleen asked "is that realistic?" Umm, no – at least not right yet, so I decided that she could have three steps after I asked and then I would ask her down by moving in front of her. After a couple of times, "moving in front of her" was just raising a hand and shortly after that, she was transitioning down off of the draw that we had worked with on Shad the day before. Interestingly enough, by the end of the week, "right away" was happening pretty consistently.

Actually drawing Shad had remained very difficult for me – it was pretty slow and there was still a lot of push, so we had finished the day before when he had offered a soft try with his shoulders and waited for direction. With Callas, the draw was much easier. I had taught her to come in a little hard on the draw, so we smoothed that out a little by working the draw ever so slowly.
Instead of a big step back and away, Kathleen had me take steady, slow lateral steps towards her tail. This made a huge difference and Callas got really sweet in the draw.

The other thing that she was doing was kind of hopping into the up transitions. They were just a little tense. I thought about being a little softer with a little less push up and we worked back and forth on those for a bit until they smoothed out as well. Callas was beginning to really stretch out and drop her head at both the trot and the canter and was in a really relaxed frame of mind.

After we wrapped up in the round pen, I decided that I would go ahead and get on and ride her around the ring a little while Hilary worked in the RP. She remained totally chilled out while I led her to the rig and was okay with me tossing my English saddle up, but when I went to bridle her, she got a little tense. I remember thinking that "maybe this is something we can work on tomorrow". I went ahead and got on and she was really really tense and looky-loo. I trail-rode her all over the place last summer and we had done some ring work, but I have been afraid to canter her. She has an athletic and extravagant buck that this old dame does not want to experience! So in the ring on Wednesday, I really felt that tight back. I rode her just a little, getting to a little better spot before I stepped off. As I was untacking, Kathleen drifted up and asked "how did that feel?" My thought was "totally sucky", but I said "Kind of tense" and told Kathleen about how she started winding up as soon as I put the bridle on. We agreed to work on that the next day.

Rode Shad in the afternoon. The ride started out pretty similar to the first day. A big hard walk and a fair amount of push into the bridle. I was able to catch it more quickly and get a deep enough bend to get his mind back, so he settled much more quickly. (Just writing about this, I realized that I changed my standard – how many steps of hard walk would I allow? – and got quite a bit more consistent with him) He was able to stop and stand more calmly and for longer periods of time. I didn't trot him the first day because he was so wound up. I am not worried about him doing anything stupid, because he "behaves" even when he's worried, but I didn't think it would help his mind at all. Today, I thought he was in a much better frame of mind, so went off and did some trot work. He took a couple of funny steps behind and we agreed to have the chiropractor look at him the next day. He has been doing it at home intermittently as well, and my regular vet couldn't find anything, so definitely worth a try.

As we were working on "whoa and stand still", Kathleen asked me if I ever just let him stand on a loose rein. "Hunh? He's not a loose rein?" I didn't even realize that I was holding him in place, so I dropped my reins and he left. I turned him until he stopped again and let go of the reins. Moved off. Hmmmm – had I built a big old push into my horse at the halt or what? After a couple more times, he stood quietly on a loose rein while we talked.

Frankly, the real work in the ring was on my timing and feel and my ability to help Shad get more steady without holding him up. I suspect (ha!) that part of the reason Shad has such a big push in the RP is the amount of push I have built into him under saddle. The nice thing is that they (and we) can learn new ways of doing things!

Day Two

2010-01-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

In the am, we put Callas on the high line and then I went and got Shad so that we could work in the round pen. It was interesting (though I guess not surprising) to find that he had a pretty hard push in the round pen. When I asked him to move off, he went pretty freely and willingly, but when I asked him to come back with a little soft draw, it was as if I was speaking a different
language. He pretty quickly went to a zoned out trot with his head tipped to the outside and Kathleen had me make sure I made a big enough move to get his attention and get the transition.

Once I had done that a few times, his attention shifted and he began cutting the ring and focusing pretty intently on the side of the pen where Callas was tied. This was kind of interesting because it suggested to me that I was not very meaningful to Shadow. He started out kind of saying "uh huh" like you do to someone who is chattering away about nothing and then finally tuned me out entirely.

Kathleen asked if I minded if she worked with Shad for a few minutes. (She always asks – I won't mention it again). She pointed out how he had gone from mildly paying attention to me to basically blowing me off (my words) and then she took ownership of the side of the ring next to Callas by keeping him moving but on the far side of the ring, turning him at about the halfway point each time. The first couple of time she turned him back pretty strongly because he would push so hard against direction, but shortly she was able to be much softer. Shad gradually withdrew his attention from the outside of the ring and began to think about what was happening inside. He tipped an ear in and his mouth got much softer.

I came back in and was able to get a little better work done. The idea was to move away from needing to move in front of him and block a push (he's got a pretty big push) in order to get a down transition and to be able to stay behind him and generate a draw for a softer more balanced down transition. It got so that I could move him up with a little energetic chi push from my belly and bring him back by moving that feeling back behind his tail and turning it into a
pull. Pretty cool stuff!

Interestingly enough, when Shad had started really drifting off to Callas, I had started kinda sorta thinking that maybe I ought to not let him dwell on that side of the ring. Another example where my thought & observation were correct, but where I hadn't acted on it in a timely way. It's not only the horses who were learning stuff.

We talked a little bit about Shad's habit of doing things a couple of times and then declaring "I'm done" instead of taking direction. We also talked about the fact that although he will go and will stop and had a kind of marginal draw, he tended to do it all either with a hard feeling or with a big push in it. I need to give myself permission to say that doing it with a hard feeling isn't up to
standard and asking for "it" with a softer feel is perfectly okay. I tend to get worried about correcting for the feel and thinking that the horse will misunderstand and go completely off on a wrong tangent.

Kathleen really pointed that out when she was round penning Shad. She had asked for a draw and he came around and came in really hard and pushing. She backed him off and he spun around and trotted off. I asked her about it and she said not to be afraid to let him know that the feeling wasn't right and that he would try something different the next time. Sure enough, the next time she asked for a draw, he cocked an ear and came in with a much softer feel. She noted that he had just made a huge try & gave him a big release and some petting time for that.

We broke for lunch and I put Shad up and Callas out in the field with the other horses. Callas was still running and hollering in the field, but with much less intensity and she kept breaking off and watching the other horses. Shad, on the other hand, was working pretty hard in his paddock, running and hollering, trotting and hollering and walking and hollering.

After lunch, I told Kathleen that I thought Shad would also benefit from learning to tie. Callas was already much calmer on the highline and I thought Shad would really benefit from learning to keep his feet a little quieter. I wish we had put him out with the gelding herd, but he had back shoes on, so we didn't really consider it. Hind sight is 20-20, but if I had thought about it,
we could have just pulled the shoes and put him out. Too bad, because I think it would have been really good for him.

We did much the same preparatory work with him that we did with Callas. What was fascinating was how each horse handled the input. Where Callas kind of flung herself around, Shadow moved pretty slowly. As with me in the round penning, he did the first couple of direction changes somewhat willingly although not very fluidly. But after humoring Kathleen for a couple of times,
he then started to really push. He would get to the wall of the round pen and then push himself forward a few steps. Kathleen had been talking about his push during the round penning and it was pretty amazing to see how strong it really was. When he stepped over and got his right side against the wall, he pushed onto the wall so hard that he wouldn't come off – in retrospect, he was trying to keep her in his left eye – something we saw a couple of days later when I was
practicing turning him in the round pen. In this case, Kathleen saw that the flag was not the right tool (because he was completely ignoring it) and went and got a rope to give him a little clearer direction. Once she was sure that he wouldn't get himself in trouble, we put him on the highline. Much like Callas, he walked pretty steadily and hollered occasionally.

It's interesting to see how horses use movement as a way of blowing of steam or working things out. It's interesting stuff. My take on it after the week session is that watching both horses loose and worried is that they just spun themselves up more and more. The highline gave them the
opportunity to move, but they had to think about their feet enough that it grounded them a little. By the end of the weekend both horses were standing quietly and relaxed on the high line, and Callas had gotten pretty quiet out in the field with other horses to occupy her attention and stabilize her, but Shad was never able to get really quiet in the paddock when he was by himself.

Day One

2010-01-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

We decided that Callas would benefit by learning to stand tied and learning to
stand tied on the high line is the first step for that work.

We started in the round pen so that we could check out how well she could move
her feet. Kathleen had me stand outside the round pen with the lead rope wrapped
twice around a round pen upright. If she set back hard I was supposed to let go
but otherwise hold steady. With the rope wrapped around the post, the horse can
give herself a perfect release. The instant she gives the rope gives.
Kathleen used the flag and started asking Callas to move from side to side. Callas
was pretty dramatic at first and had a hard time keeping her mind in the pen and had a
hard time moving from side to side and switching eyes. Once she was moving
pretty proficiently from side to side, we took her over to the high line.

It wasn't set up for big warmbloods so she had to learn one additional skill-how to drop her head a bit and get below the cross beam. Then we tied her there (with a special knot I don't remember the name of) and stood back to watch and make sure that she could get turned around, could get herself untangled if the rope wrapped around her ears (she has BIG ears!) - and then we let her be. She spent the rest of the morning circling and screaming for Shad.

Callas is a bit of a cribber-she doesn't do it much at home, but she was getting into the paddock fence, so we decided that she could go out into a pasture with different fencing. There was also a herd out there for her to interact with so at lunchtime we put her out there. It was pretty fascinating-she ran back and forth on the fenceline screaming for Shad while all the other horses just stood and looked at her like she was a lunatic.

The other gal who is studying here this week (Hilary) went into the round pen and started working with Tuesday, one of Kathleen's horses. He is a nice little QH/Perch cross. Hilary was doing some neat work with him and it's a real benefit to be able to watch some one else. I won't be talking about her work much or this would start to turn into a novel! Meanwhile Shad was alone in the paddock running and screaming for Callas.

In the afternoon, we checked the western saddle for fit on Shad and Kathleen gave it the thumbs up. She would have liked to seen a little more flare at the shoulders but it was okay. So I climbed aboard and rode him.

Shad was having a hard time keeping his attention in the ring and he was doing what I call a hard walk. He was walking because he knew he was supposed to be, but his inside was sure not much about walking. Kathleen had me turn him in a circle when he got hard until he softened and then we staightened into a release. I needed to work on getting in more quickly and decisively when I felt him start to get bothered. I also tend to not ask for an intense enough turn to get his mind back.

So we worked on that until he got quite a bit softer, then I started asking him for a whoa. He pushed really hard into the whoa, got really heavy and once stopped couldn't keep his feet still for more than a few seconds. We returned to the lesson of the circle and the lesson for me to get in there faster so that a small bother didn't get any bigger (it's a toughie that one!). We worked on this quite a bit until Shad offered some good quiet moments and then stopped with that.

Both pones were reunited in their paddock (I picked up a cribbing collar for Callas at lunchtime) and we all had a well deserved rest!

Pre-Day One with Kathleen Lindley

2010-01-12T04:36:00.000-08:00

Pre-Day One

Headed down to SC to work with Kathleen Lindley for a week long session. I
brought Headed down to SC to work with Kathleen for a week. I brought Shadow, my
11 yo QH and Callas, a (young) 6 yo Westphalian mare.

Arrived in SC after a long hard haul from Va. It was really windy and I was
below speed almost all the way, so wound up arriving after dark. Pones unloaded
quietly, explored their paddock, then took a good long drink and settled in to
munching their hay. It wasn't that cold so I left blankets off.

Sunday am I came out to a very cold morning and shivering horses so I tossed their blankets on and gave them more hay. Sunday was planned as a kind of chill out day so I just pulled
Shad out in the afternoon for a brief ride. He was a little anxious but got a bit better feel as we worked so I was pretty pleased. The ring is adjacent to our assigned paddock and the whole time we were riding Callas was zooming around the paddock in a highly anxious state

Finally it all got to be too much for her and she jumped out of the paddock (smashing the top rail in two). She was a little high but was actually pretty easy to catch since I had what she wanted--Shadow!

We had already planned to talk about my goals for the week at dinner on Sunday night and at least one task was crystal clear-we need to work on separation anxiety!

Snow visitor!

2009-12-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well everyone is all abuzz about the big snow, but I am abuzz about our little visitor this afternoon. I wanted to take some pics of our bridge in the snow - or rather the snow and the teeny bit of bridge still visible.

When I opened the door - a bright red cardinal flew right into the house! He fluttered around the living room for a moment, then disappeared into the loft area. I ran up and found that he had gone into our bed room. I tried to herd him out the french doors, but he kept flying from window to window. He finally settled in the window well and let me catch him. His little heart was beating sooo fast! I called Henry to come quick and he snapped a couple of photos before we released the red head back outside.

Walkin on the beach

2009-12-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

Headed home tomorrow early, so this was my last walk on the beach for a while. Brisk morning, but very beautiful.

The other day, I snapped the Christmas lights on the pier - not bad for a shot in the dark from the iPhone.

This morning - about the same spot, but facing the other direction, caught the dawn rolling in over the hills. It's been very beautiful.

2009-12-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

It was a challenging drive down to SD. Pouring rain! Fortunately, I decided to head down early so missed the worst of the high winds. Went down 15 and there was almost no traffic, so that worked out great.

Snapped out the window - it was wet!

Rainy Monday

2009-12-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

It's raining in SoCal this am. Heading down to San Diego at lunchtime for a meeting. Not terribly looking forward to a long drive in rain and gale force winds...

Glad it held off though - it was a nice weekend. Just chilled yesterday - walked around the beach a bit. Had ice cream for dinner!

Palos Verdes - Portuguese Bend Park

2009-12-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Back in CA - went hiking in the Portuguese Bend Park near Palos Verdes. It's an easy 30 minute drive from the hotel. Went over early - still overcast, about 60 degrees (it's snowing in Maryland right now, heh).

My plan was to head down the main trail (Burma Road Trail) to the Landslide Scarp Trail and then come back on side trails, so I wouldn't be retracing my steps too much. Guestimating 3 or 4 miles? Maybe less.

The park is kinda cool. Trailhead is in a residential neighborhood and the beautiful wild area is just plopped down there - neat! But it meant lots more hikers than I saw at Topanga over the summer.

Remember that I am an outta shape flatlander from the East Coast! Unlike Topanga, this trailhead starts at the TOP of a loooonnnngggg downhill trail that winds down and down and down. Even before I started walking, I was thinking of the up and up and up return trip! LOL

As I started down the most amazing thing was all the folks were were RUNNING up the daggone hill (mountain). Holy moly! My calves were already starting to fuss about the downhill walk.

The scenery there is spectacular. The park had a fire in August and some of the trails are closed and parts of the landscape are very blasted and lunar looking, but you look straight out to the ocean - just gorgeous. There was a brisk breeze from the water - a little chilly at first, but before long I was really glad of it!

You can see one of the burned out areas in the pic. I was lucky that the weather held for the weekend - they will close the park if it's too rainy and it's easy to see why. Foot traffic in wet weather would really tear things up.

After a while, I decided to abort the original plan, because I knew I had to get back up that mountain, so I took one of the side trails that I had scoped out. Water Tank trail goes STRAIGHT down for a couple hundred feet. I went down sidewise, slipping and sliding, then turned right onto Kubota trail which leveled off and headed back towards the main drag. It wound among pasture and scrub, opening up from time to time into beautiful views. It was much more peaceful than the main drag. I was headed back up that big hill in the distance in the photo. Yikes!

After a long steady pull, I made it back to the top (ok - I did take a couple of rest breaks. That trail is STEEP!) Part of the reason they have been able to establish the parkland is because the ground is so unstable in the area that houses are at risk of sliding down the hillsides so there is a building moratorium in the area. A couple of homes perched on the hills. You can't really see it in the picture, but the fences around the yards, were tipping down the hillside. Beautiful view, but kinda scary!

And last, but not least, a rose from my stroll along the beach this am. I must say that walking on the strand (like the boardwalk on the east coast, only paved) does not prepare one for hiking in the CA hills!

Pics are all from the iPhone.

Topanga Canyon

2009-08-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am here in LA working, so this weekend, I went up and hiked Topanga Canyon. It's very cool - a beautiful and huge park only 30-40 minutes from the heart of LA. Amazing!

I took a ton of photos with the iPhone, so the quality isn't great (and the process for getting them from phone to laptop leaves A LOT to be desired), so I will add them slowly!

Here's part of the trail. I had already hiked that part and was looking back down on it.

And here's the RATTLESNAKE! I encountered on my journey. He scared me and I scared him and we respectfully agreed to go our own separate ways. I jumped like a scalded cat at every rustle for about a mile after that! LOL

2009-07-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Woot! Finally finished my socks.

Trail-riding a bunch with Callas. She is getting better all the time. She might make a respectable trail horse some day! LOL

More stuff on the web page.

Las Vegas Visit part one

2009-06-13T06:29:00.001-07:00

LV Trailride1, originally uploaded by kgarrets.

I posted this from Blogger and haven't figured out how to consolidate photos on one page, so you have a couple of pages of Las Vegas "stuff"

Hank on the left, then me. Obscured sister, Kelsi. Cousin's daughter, Lauren. Niece, Keegan. Cousin's wife, Elizabeth. Scenery courtesy of Red Rock parkland.

Las Vegas visit.

2009-06-13T06:23:00.001-07:00

LVTrailride2, originally uploaded by kgarrets.

Las Vegas Trailride. A steep and rocky climb, but way worth it for the views. It was a beautiful day in Vegas.

another Update

2008-09-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

Finally kicked back in on the vest I am trying to design. Whew! It's hard work. LOL

I think it's coming along great.

We are having semi-rainy, sticky, humid weather this weekend, so it's a good time to hunker down in the AC and get a little knitting done.

Wow - it's a gorgeous day!

2008-09-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Perfect weather - we are loving this early fall stuff. I had to wear a jacket this am out to feed the horses!

The trip to Ohio to ride with Dennis was amazing! Not the least of it when we got the tail end of hurricane Ike on Sunday afternoon. I was sure proud of our horses who barely flicked an ear at all the commotion!

I will start jumping lessons with Shad on Tuesday, so that will be pretty fun and exciting.

On the knitting front, I am working a fun pair of Monkey socks (from knitty.com) and a few other projects.
Starting up the Christmas knitting and finished a few things that I can't publish on the blog!

Just touching base

2008-09-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's September already!?!
Here's a September morning on the farm pic for you.

On the riding front, we are off to Ohio for a few days to ride with Dennis Reis. That should be really neat. I got a "new" jumping saddle - used, but new to me, and plan to start doing some jumping again this fall.

We have been having a blast trail riding - sadly not too much in the way of pics, but will try to get some at the clinic.

Knitting has been going great - my newest project is a pair of socks using this yarn - I think they will be really cute!

More about everything on the web site! NeverBlue Farm

A little more knitting

2008-08-02T14:51:00.001-07:00

Just finished Shedir. I have made this hat before. It's so gorgeous and a very fun knit.

This is for a friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Just a quickie update for July

2008-07-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Horses are doing great. Henry is off at cowboy shooting with Austin today - I weenied out. Too hot! But here are Shad and I at a Cowboy Versatility competion. He was a little worried about this bridge, but in the end, got used to it and crossed it very nicely.

The flowers are beautemeous now, but just passing their peak - heading into that hot part of summer where we get a little light on flowers. I need to find some more perennials to bloom through this time of year.

Knitting is going nicely. I have a couple of languishing WIP's, but I finished some cutie stuff.

A little top/dress for a friend's new baby. The pattern is a free pattern from Ravelry - Little Sister Dress.

Wrapped up a multi-morphing shawl (it has been through more incarnations than Prince!) for my sister. I like how it came out - I thought the two-color thing might look dorky, but I think in this particular set of colors, it's pretty.

As usual, check out the NeverBlue farm website for more of everything!

Touching Base

2008-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since the last time I posted.

Haven't finished much knitting, but Henry bought a new horse named Austin. Check out his web page - http://www.neverbluefarm.com/austin.html He is a 6 yo Thoroughbred off the racetrack. He is a very good minded horse.

I did finish a quick scarf for a dressage benefit - it came out very pretty. (at least in my opinion!)

Belated Update

2008-04-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

Haven't been posting here much.

Just want to say that things are going great. The farm is beautiful this time of year. Tulips, magnolias, silver dollar plant, hostas coming up - wooo!

The horses are fat and sassy. We retired Henry's riding horse, so are looking for a new prospect for him. Here is Hank teaching Shadow some new stuff. Betcha didn't know that horses can read!

Knitting is zipping along with a big project nearing fruition. Viridescent Diamond Cardigan - designed by Norah Gaughan. It's yummy.

Hot diggity dog!

2008-02-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

Just finished this shawl/stole. Simurgh by Anne Hanson. It was quite a fun knit, but was pretty all consuming as it's a gift and I wanted it finished before this coming weekend.

So now that this is done, I am working on some socks and back to the cardigan for me.

More pics on the home page - http://www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

On the horse front - Shad is doing fine - I haven't been riding much between work and the weather - I think I really need to move to a warmer climate! LOL

Callas has been a little sore in the back, so she has just been doing light groundwork. She is the cutest thing since sliced bread!

January update 1/25

2008-01-26T11:39:00.001-08:00

Got quite a bit of knitting done this week - finished a scarf and got about halfway through another.

Here's the WIP - a stole called Simurgh from Anne Hanson - it's yummy!

Rode Shad, rode Callas. It's been cold, so I am proud of myself for getting out and getting the riding done. brrrr!

Put a bunch of knitting updates on the web page and also updated some of the horse stuff so go over and browse!

www.neverbluefarm.com

January update 1/18

2008-01-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

Life at home is pretty good so far for 2008. Work kinda sucks, but there you go.

I was working on a scarf out of Blue Heron rayon boucle and had to frog it a couple of times before I figured out what it wanted to be. And that is a variation on the Bird's Nest Shawl out of Folk Scarves. I just did two pattern repeats so it's about 7 or 8" wide and it's coming out lovely.

I am actually working on three other things at the same time as this! A pair of socks, a Cardigan and the Simurgh stole from Anne Hanson's web site. Pics are on the Neverblue website - http://www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

I also put up a page for the corgis - only a few pics now, but they are so cute, it's hard to resist taking photos.

Pony life is good. Callas just got adjusted by the chiro and he thinks she should do much better - I will ride her this afternoon and see how it goes. Off to ride Shad now because tomorrow is supposed to be REALLY cold and I am a big weenie!

It's a New Year!

2008-01-05T10:38:00.001-08:00

Welcome to 2008!

My first finished knitting project for 2008 is a belated pair of socks for Christmas - more knitting stuff on my web page

http://www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

On the riding front, Shadow is currently at a barn with an indoor arena. Man, are we lovin' it! He is going great and we are planning to ride in a clinic on Jan 18/19. Hopefully we can get some pics then so you can see how nice he looks!

Callas is still for sale, but gave herself an owie, so she is recovering from a hip injury. I swear that once you tag them for sale they immediately try to self destruct!

The other pones are all fine and we are doing great. It should be a wonderful year!

Thanksgiving Post

2007-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

It's the day after Thanksgiving. We had a quiet day at home watching a cold front blow in! It was 75 in the morning and got steadily cooler and grayer as the day wore on. Today is only the high 40's. Too bad! I was enjoying the warm weather!

I have been knitting quite busily - finished several Christmas gifts and have another on the needles.

Here's my WIP as a teaser! Pics of the rest are on the blog - www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

On the horse front, I moved Shadow to a farm with an indoor arena for the winter. He is settling in nicely - he is just the cutest thing on the planet and they all love him there!

I posted an update about his ride with the resident trainer in his journal. I plan to get some updated pics as we work throughout the winter. Maybe we will even get into the show ring next year as this one was a total bust!

November 4th

2007-11-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

Had a fun ride on Shad the other day. Rode him bareback in a halter and tried to "Think" our way into and around things. Not highly successful, but very entertaining none-the-less! LOL

On the knitting front. Finished my Silkie socks - very yummy. They are a Christmas prezzie for one of my sistahs.

Off to the drag the ring and get in my Sunday rides!

End of October update

2007-10-27T06:58:00.001-07:00

Finally finished Peg's vest. I am very pleased with how it came out!

Updated the web page with finished pics of the Entrelac scarf. I wish I were a better photographer - it's simply beautiful and the pics don't do it justice.

Also have some WIP snaps up - socks and a hat.

http://www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

On the pony front - the rain (welcome as it is!) has sorta put a kabosh on much riding. They are in now, getting dry and munching hay. I will put them out a bit later as the sun is now peeking through.

Had a bit of an adventure this am. Biz, one of our boarders, got cast. What this means is that she rolled and got stuck against the side of the stall. So now we have a 1200 lb horse squished up against the stall and unable to get any purchase to push herself up and away. It's a bad situation and dangerous for horse and human alike. Fortunately she was pretty calm - would struggle now and again to push herself up, then would lay still and look at me "Lady - I need a little help here!"

I went to get Henry because I knew I couldn't move her myself. While I was waiting for him to dress and come out, I pushed a bale of hay in next to her front legs, hoping she could use it to gain a little purchase and push herself up. Instead of using it to get up, she started eating it! Horses just crack me up!

Once Henry came out, we were able to pull her over by her front legs - I had to push her head over because she was a little stuck against the stall doorway and then helped push her knees over and she was able to scramble to her feet. I was afraid that she would squish Henry, but she was pretty careful of him. Adrenalin moment for the morning!

October Update

2007-10-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am focusing more on my web page and less on the blog, but will try to put up teasers now and again! LOL

Here's my October WIP. An Entrelac scarf in Sea Silk.

For more details - click on my knitting page www.neverbluefarm.com/knitting.html

My horsey journals and pictures are scattered about the rest of the website. Feel free to browse to your heart's content.

Boy - Have I been remiss!

2007-09-26T12:25:00.001-07:00

It's been a very busy summer and I just haven't gotten around to posting. (Where is that round tuit? LOL)

So FO's -

Finally finished the Baltic Sea Stole. What a lengthy undertaking that was - but it turned out beautiful!

The yarn is Schaefer's Andrea - it's a threadlike lace weight silk. As you can see, the colors are fabulous, but the yarn is VERY VERY fine. This project was started over a year ago. Granted, I haven't worked on it steadily and then there was the time I had to frog about 2 inches worth, which delayed me a lot - both the frogging and the overcoming the reluctance to do so!

But doesn't it capture the pattern beautifully? It will go to a Florida sister. I would like to do the Baltic Sea Stole again, but I don't think I will do it in lace weight this time!

Next is the Moebius Lacy Wrap from Cat Bordhi's first Moebius book. I did this in Ella Rae Shibu. This is a really nice yarn! Not expensive, 90% silk, gorgeous colors and boy does it feel spiffy when it's washed and blocked. This one is also going to Florida - for my mom.

On the needles - a pair of socks in STR silkie. Totally love this yarn - it's majorly soft and feels ummmmm!

I also have an entrelac scarf in sea silk in the works, but no pics yet. Another sis (I have four!) just sent me some yarn to do a little scarf for her - looks like it will be fun.

I also STILL have to do the border on Peg's vest and I have the Red Gansey languishing since last spring. So lot's to do! Will try to get pics of these projects as I move them along.

On the equine front, baby Callas is doing beautifully - sadly she is for sale and I have several people scheduled to come and look at her. But I am pleased she is doing so well and hope one of those folks just flat falls in love with her. She's a cutie pie in nature and totally gorgeous in appearance!

Also shooting cowboy off of Shadow - he still needs to get better about being acclimated to gunfire, but he is trying hard. What a good boy!

Well - that's it for today!

The more things change....

2007-06-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie to post some pics.

Here is a felted vase that I made for my sis as a visit present. I haven't felted much before so many lessons learned here, one of which is use the same base yarn for felted object so it felts a bit more evenly! LOL But it's cute anyhow and has spawned a bunch of ideas that I want to start working up. Felting is cool.

The other pic is the start of some I-cord binding that's going to go on a quilt for friend. It's in a bit of koigu that I had left over from another project. I love the colors - they are going to go great with the quilt blocks and I like the notion of the thread that binds us all together being something that is so changeable and varied.

I guess I am in a very transformational mood!

STR Socks with yarn #1 are done!

2007-06-09T10:46:00.001-07:00

I joined the STR Sock Club this year, but have had so much stuff to catch up on that I am way behind on knitting the socks. The first yarn is their medium weight in a crazy variegated green with tan and cream and a purply gray (Monsoon). I didn't care for it much at first, but once I started knitting with it, I liked it more and more. It's very subtle and beautiful and VERY hard to photograph nicely! I couldn't make gauge for the included pattern, so swatched around a bit and made these socks up. They are based on a toe-up sock out of Sensational Socks, but I used a japanese short row toe.

They are a little goofy - pattern (a patterned rib from BW) doesn't start until 3 inches up the foot because I was just going to do stockinette, but got bored. Then I forgot to carry the heel stitches all the way up the heel once I started the gusset - see the standing pic - oops!. I am having trouble getting a good pic of them, but they are really cute in person.

Did another repeat or so on the Baltic Sea Stole. Looks the same only about 1 1/2 inches longer - when this thing is finished, I want a MEDAL!

Swatched the second yarn the other night - it's Silkie in colorway Walk on the Wild Tide. It is scrumptious yarn, both in feel and color. It's a teeny bit splitty to knit up due to how it's plied, but well worth the trouble. I am tempted to order some more and just make a top out of it! I am not so sure I like the second sock pattern, so maybe I will do the first one in this yarn. I guess I like to mix stuff up!

Still have to finish up the edging for Peg's vest. I am still wrestling with what I want to do - regular ribbing around the bottom with the diagonal rib on the front and neck? Diagonal rib all the way around? Regular rib all the way around. And if I do diagonal rib on the front, do I do the bottom ribbing first and carry the diagonal rib all the way to the bottom? Or do I do the front/neck band first and finish off the entire bottom with ribbing? SO many options. Maybe I will drag it over to the knitting shop and get some live input.

I am still looking for the designer of this sweater. A couple of people have suggested Alice Starmore, but I don't think it's her work - more likely an Alice knockoff.

For Stashalong, I am so golden, although I have to admit I was SOOOOO tempted the other day - someone posted about Koigu on sale for under $7/skein. Never mind the fact that I have about 15 skeins of Koigu sitting around waiting for me to do something with them, I wanted more! But I resisted, and am very proud of myself! So finished one skein of STR this week.

Quick update

2007-06-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

Working away on my Socks That Rock yarn. (First batch) Couldn't make gauge on the pattern, so fudged around and made up my own. The yarn is kind of a funky color, but it's growing on me and I love the way it knits up. Just have to finish up the cuffs and ribbing - another day or two I would guess.

Need to finish up the border portions of Peg's vest. That needs to be done by June 23.

And plugging away very slowly on the Baltic Sea Stole.

On a more serious note, check out http://www.knitspot.com/ Anne is encouraging folks to sponsor a gal who is riding for MS. (and offering great prizes for those who help!) I have pitched in to sponsor Claudia and am also throwing in two balls of yarn - Filatura Multicolor - a mohair blend in purples/blues/greens. Go to Anne's page for more details.

This n That

2007-05-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

No stash busting this week as I finished up the Clapotis for Peg. She bought the yarn so it never came out of my stash. Dang! Now need to buckle down and design the edging for her vest.

Clapotis is from 2 skeins of Brooks Farm Riata from the MD Sheep & Wool festival. I have been working on so many lengthy projects, I just wanted to do something fast and pretty! And it sure is!

First pic is draped over some hosta, second pic is laid on our little bridge - like a purple carpet!

How about this peony??? This is Bartzella - an intersectional hybrid (crossed with a tree peony). I got this from swensonfarms.com They are really nice folks and the plants I got from them (Bartzella and Americana - a red one with a scent like wine! didn't get pics-bad me!) were very healthy - came up like gangbusters this spring. Both of them had 8+ buds, but I clipped back most of them even though it was VERY difficult!

I am looking for a book

2007-05-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

And in this book are some beautiful sweater patterns, including the one below. I would love to remember who wrote this book and what it was called so I can try to get another copy, but alas, my memory... The front is ballon cables surrounding an interlaced cable and the sleeves and back are all lattice. It's really spiff! I think it was a British designer and I think it was a hardback.

Took some farm pics this am -too totally beautiful!

And just for fun - Oriental poppy! That's the definition of orange in my book.

Life on the Farm

2007-05-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

Not quite summertime, and the livin' isn't all that easy LOL - work, work, working away on the gardens, but what better way to spend one's time (except knitting, of course, and I have some of that too!)

Here is my wonderful tractor - New Holland 33 HP. Hub mowed one field yesterday and I mowed one today. I will let hub mow the steep & scary one!

This is a "Before" pic - lots of weeds and no mulch.

This is how it will look after I get my hands on it! LOL One lone tulip left - some bluebells, peonies about to pop, some hosta. Weeded and mulched! Yippee!

This is Rowdy - he has been rolling around in the buttercups and has a faceful of yellow pollen. Too funny! I think he is annoyed that I am laughing at him.

This the progress so far on the clapotis for my friend Peg. It's in the Riata from S&W. Unfortunately, it's not stashbusting as Peg bought it for me to knit, but I wanted to knit something fast and easy since I still have so many WIPs on the needle! There are actually two drops, but I was a lazy photographer and didn't stretch them out. You will see more later.

The Riata is knitting up beautifully and the colors are even better than in the pic - sort of raspberry sherbert. Ummmm!

Post MD Sheep & Wool Update

2007-05-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well - I gave myself a limit of $100 for S&W and I stuck with it! I actually went over by $7, but the friend who was with me said - "you're not over, I am buying y0ur lunch!" So I accepted! LOL

I bought some basil and lavender (here's the basi freshly planted) , an ice cream cone, lunch (subtracted!) and a bit of yarn.

We started out at Brooks Farm where I bought some variegated rust Acero - superwash, viscose, silk blend. It's yummy. Then we cruised down to the main auditorium and went through that, then we watched a sheepdog demo, then we worked our way back up through the buildings.

My friend bought some gorgeous furniture from a wood worker there, so we went and got our cars and brought them around to pick up the furniture.

By now it was almost closing time and the crowd had thinned out considerably, so I cruised back past Brooks Farm and bought some more Acero - this time a gorgeous teal. It's single colored, but the various fibers take the yarn differently, so it has a heathered appearance. Nice stuff. It's sort of heavy fingering weight.

Peg also bought some yarn from Brooks Farm -Riata. I am going to make her a clapotis out of it. Should be astoundingly beautiful!

I also spent a little time just hanging around on the farm taking pictures today. Some of my faves...

Self explantory - it's a bleeding heart!

And here is Gunner, the giant Corgi with tulips!

Finally, here's some knitting -

Peg's vest. It fits her great. Now all I need to do is add the frontband & neckband and add the hem edging. I think I will try making the front band in the same diagonal motif as the front detail. Hem will probably just be ribbing or seed stitch.

A Knitting update!

2007-04-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Finally took some knitting pics!

What I am working on -

Red Gansey - no pics. No progress since last time I posted about it. Can we say "stalled"?

Baltic Sea Stole - It's now at 32". This pic shows a nickel on the fabric with the yarn draped across it. I tried to get a pic of the whole thing, but the pic looked ugly. I need to figure out how to get an accurate photo of this stole because it is freaking beautiful! However, I still have about another 32" of stole left to knit. Maybe by the summer...

Optimum socks. These are the Daylily socks in Optimum DK. The pattern is pretty, but I don't think I will do it again. Lots of K3 tog which I find to be a big PITA. I am also not too thrilled with the Optimum. Like the angora I worked with last year, it's just TOO soft, not enough body. I am finding I like a yarn with a little bit of beef and boing!

Peg's vest is a variation on the Navaho vest out of "Folk Vests". It's knit side to side and I think that it is showing off the hand painted yarn really nicely. I am doing it in straight stockinette, but stuck a pattern panel in there to break things up a bit. I am a little worried about sizing, but the back is started with provisional cast on, so I can add a bit there if necessary.

Anyway - now off to go for a trailride!

Quiet Sunday

2007-04-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Have ridden quite a bit this month, but no pics. And am knitting away, but no pics of that either. Maybe I will try to grab some this afternoon. No FO's - just work in progress - the same work that has been in progress for a while, except I started some Dayflower socks for my neice in bubblegum pink Optimum! I made them ankle socks because I don't think I have enough yarn for "normal" socks, but I think they will be cute and hopefully I will have enough to finish the feet!

Just going through the camera and found this. We had a cold misty night last month. So cold that the mist frosted everything. Too amazing! Here are some pics from that morning.

Here's Rowdy - greeting the morning! He's such a showboat!

Some cedar branches - love how the frost and the cedar are so congruent.

Even inanimate objects had BIG frost.

I love this view of the frozen pond behind the trees and frosted pasture weeds.

April Update

2007-04-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have been a BAD blogger - not keeping stuff up to date.

No knitting OR riding pics today. Just some pics I snapped that I like. Spring is sprung!

The folks we bought our place from were avid gardeners. We have umpty bazillion daffodils of all kinds. This is what I call a plain old daffodil! LOL They come out early, don't have much scent, but they are perky and beautiful and cheer me up every time I look at them.

This is the scene out the back pasture. It really is magnificent to wake up to this every morning as I feed and tend the horses.

Visiting Callas

2007-03-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

Went up to PA today to visit Callas. My goodness, she was an awesome gal! Behaved beautifully and was spiffed up for photo op purposes. Here she is in a conformation photo and with the trainer riding her. What a cutie pie!

Fashion Forward

2007-03-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven't bought new shoes in forever! Just bought these from Zappos and am trying to decide if I want to keep them. They are $$$. They are even more beautiful in person than in the pic too.

The dorky thing is that I sprained my wrist putting them on as they are quite slender through the ankle. I would definitely need to go get a shoe horn, so that I don't injure myself! LOL

2007-02-24T07:08:00.000-08:00

Not been riding much - in fact, haven't sat on a horse since Jan 28.

Here's our riding ring - I dragged it yesterday to break up the snow and ice - just hopin' that it will dry out sooner if I keep grooming it. But not quite ready to be ridden on! :(

And a chilly farm view. Beautiful, but COLD!

On the knitting front, making good progress on my projects.

Red Gansey - Completed first pattern row and about 2" into the next one. Another inch or so and I will start the underarm gussets.
Baltic Sea Stole. Added about 2" - Please note the yarn weight on this. Just for comparison, the pale blue life line is fingering weight koigu. ACK!
Hank's Socks. Made good progress. Stopped at my LYS (Eleganza in Frederick) to get some help figuring out the directions on the heel turn and gusset. She cleared me up! Decided to try to complete them doing the two socks together on two needles, but it was too hard to turn the heel that way. So one heel turned, the other ready to go. Then the gusset and whoosh up the calf - maybe done by next weekend. (BTW, Eleganza is carrying Bearfoot now -yummm)

Peg's Vest - Haven't touched it but have been thinking about how I want to do it and I think I have a plan. Once Hank's socks are done, I will get back to the vest.

Mid Feb update

2007-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

How time flies when you are having fun!

After I do this will run out and chop away at some of the frozen snow coating the place. No pics at present of our frozen acres! Needless to say, not much happening on the riding front. Shad's leg is still healing, but is moving along nicely.

On the knitting front, I guess the cold weather is good for something!

Red sweater - almost completed first pattern row. Looking VERY spiff!

Hank's socks - if you look at the pic, you will realize that we have regressed. Wound up frogging the whole thing & redoing the toes with Japanese short rows. Highly recommended, much neater and tighter than wrapped short rows. I also decided to just use stockinette for the socks. He doesn't care about the fancy stitches and I am trying to teach myself how to do toe-up gussets, so the simpler the better this time around. I actually knitted quite a bit more after this pic. Am up to the gusset start on one sock and have about an inch or so of the blue on the second sock.

Baltic Sea stole - HURRAY! Have finally tinked back to the error. You may be able to see the lifeline sitting there. I just hope I calculated correctly as to where I was in the pattern because of course, I didn't count back on the rows I was tinking - DOH! So now I can start moving forward on this one again. If I EVER EVER EVER suggest doing anything in lace weight silk in future, please just put me out of my misery before I start.

Blue/variegated scarf is done, but I am very disappointed in it. Knitted it with Lisa Souza's sock yarn. The yarn is lovely, but unfortunately, the colors from one end of the skein to the other are quite variable and I don't think it does anything for this scarf. Might frog it and redo as a moebius - the color variation would work more as a feature there and less as a bug. Tried to get a pic of it, but the photo doesn't show how huge the change is. That's the good and the bad side of hand-dyed yarns - amazing variation - sometimes it works for you, sometimes not.

Peg's vest is on the back burner for a bit. Need to frog that too and rethink the design. Once I get going though, I think it will go pretty fast.

Now off to shovel (or pickaxe!)

Busy Bee!

2007-02-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

Haven't been riding much. Hank was away for the week and it's fierce trying to run the place by oneself, especially in the winter!

But I have been knitting! and unknitting :(

Baltic Sea Stole - still haven't gotten all the way back to the mistake. This is so slow and painstaking. Once we start going forward again on this, definitely will be dropping a lifeline on this one for the next little while.

Hub's socks. Started them in all blue, but miscalculated the gauge and they were HUGE! So I frogged them and restarted with nifty hidden colored toes. I used short row toes to start, but have been trying to find gusseted heels because I think they will be a bit sturdier for him - just found this site on knittyboard - http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8mnnp/toesheels.html So I think that will help enormously!

My red gansey is coming along. Partly through the first pattern section. I am quite pleased so far. Almost done with the first ball - panicked at first when I reached the end of the ball because I only got 5 skeins, then remembered it's circular and that's the front and back done to this point (DOH!)

And started a little quick scarf out of some of the Lisa Souza. It's a simple twin rib pattern, but really shows the yarn off IMO.

I also helped a pal transfer her old computer to her new computer and went to a camera class this weekend. Gosh, it's no wonder that I am tired when I go back to work on Monday! LOL

Late January

2007-01-29T04:12:00.000-08:00

Rode Pro in a "ride-a-test". You ride in an informal competition, get judged, then work with the judge to fine-tune/clean up problem areas. Sometimes you then go ride the test a second time, but we didn't. We had a horrible school on Saturday, so I was not very enthused and almost bugged out, but we wound up having a really fun ride Sunday and learned a few nice nuggets - pretty cool for a 30 minute ride. Here he is on the lawn after his post-ride roll in the dirt!

Shad's leg is still slowly slowly healing. I said I wouldn't post any more pics, but I fibbed! Here he is, 26 days post injury. Still very nasty looking, but granulation tissue is filling in. He is still on very limited turnout so that he doesn't break it open more and on antibiotics.

On the knitting front, bad news first :( I dropped another stitch on the Baltic Sea Stole and I am gonna have to tink back and fix it - the other error I just fudged and basically tied into place, but this one breaks the flow for sure. I guess I could leave it there and call it a big rock on the beach! LOL

Made nice progress on my sweater for the Red Sweater KAL. It's the "white gansey" from Beth Brown-Reinsel's book. I am doing it in sport weight from Lisa Souza, color garnet. I think it's gonna look fabbo.

Started some socks for Hub, but no pics - it's just the toe.

Peg's vest is on hold for a bit, I think I am going to change lanes in how I do the stripes, so have to think that through a bit.

I have been trying to teach myself continental knitting and am improving a lot on the knitting part. Haven't quite scoped out the purl part yet, so will have to do that next.

Productive week on both riding and knitting fronts!

Pro

2007-01-21T10:52:00.000-08:00

FORCED myself to ride while I could even though it was cold cold cold. With snow forecast, (and it's snowing now), I wanted to get a ride in. And I weenied out yesterday with all the wind.

Anyway - here's the old man. Not bad for 24!

Knitting update - Jan 20

2007-01-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

Ascot scarf finished. It turned out great! Made from 5 skeins of E. Lavold Silky Cashmere. It's warm and snuggly and oh so soft!

The entrelac scarf & hat set are also complete and boy I am glad to be done with that Angora! Never again! LOL I think I used 3 skeins each of the green and the yellow. It did come out very cute. The hat works like a little beret, but I poofed it out for the photo, so that you could see the entrelac. The change out of the entrelac back to straight knitting was a bit rough, but it's well disguised by the fuzzy yarn.

Both of the above were self designed.

The Baltic Sea Stole dropped stitch has been rescued and I have gone back to work on it. Now at 20 inches. Boy this is gonna take forever!

Started Peg's vest, but the picture turned out horrible, so will post on that later. I have about 1/2 of the right back done.

Hank's socks will go on the needles soon and then will be working these three for a while.

So for January so far, three FO's of approx 1100 yards , and about 500 total sq inches of knitting. Not so shabby!

2007-01-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

This is a painting of Shadow that a friend did. The frame shop has this nifty tool to show how the final frame job will look.

It's a distressed wood frame with touches of gold, green suede textured mat with a distressed wood/gold filet and a pale green undermat. Very classy looking.

The software washes out the image quite a bit, it more than holds its own against the framing.

Shad's leg is still pretty ooky, but slowly slowly mending.

Is it spring?

2007-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous, foggy morning today. Took some farm pics, but couldn't post them - gotta check my firewall settings.

Shad is improving. I will spare you all any more ooky leg shots!

Made good progress on the silk/cashmere ascot scarf. With any luck will finish up tonight.

The entrelac scarf is done and the hat is about half-way done. Since I am making it up as I go along, keep your fingers crossed that it turns out okay!

Did nothing on the Baltic Sea Stole - cogitating on how to fix the dropped stitch.

Once I wrap up the ascot, will put a vest for a friend on the needles. Some gorgeous worsted weight wool from MDS&W - black, shot with purples, teals, forest greens - very yummy. Swatched it earlier this year - it would be a good thing if I can remember what size needles I used!

Then when I wrap up the entrelac ensemble, will start some socks for hub.

And I need to start something for the Red Sweater KAL...

Shadow Update + farm pic

2007-01-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

It's a bit of gray morning, rain coming in later today, but still beautiful IMO.

Shad's leg is not improving. Vet will be here in an hour or so.

January Update

2007-01-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

Just catching up. To start with, morning on the farm...

Then on to knitting projects -

1. Baltic Sea Stole. This is a belated B-day present for my sister. It's in laceweight silk and is quite a project. It's at 17" now and I am hoping to get at least 48" out of the yarn I have. I just found a dropped stitch and am not quite sure what I am going to do to fix it.

2) Entrelac Scarf. I finished the scarf after I took this pic - at 48" for a short friend LOL. I had asked her if she wanted a long scarf or a short scarf and a hat and she picked the second option, so now I am working on an entrelac hat in the round - making it up as I go. Kinda "interesting"!

3) This will be an interlaced ascot type scarf for my neice. It's in Lavold Silky Cashmere and is TOTALLY yummy. I am using the Twin Rib stitch and will split the scarf into 5 sections and interlace them ala Teva Durham's laced scarves, but this will be a shorter scarf. If it doesn't work, I will just make an ascot type slide.

And on the horse front, Shadow sliced his leg open. It's totally a mess, he's on stall rest and antibiotics - ooky picture follows...

Man - I have been busy!!!

2007-01-05T08:03:00.000-08:00

I have been too busy to blog!

Lotsa knitting. A fair amount of riding. Lots of socializing!

Will try to update with current project pics this weekend.

In the meantime - here's the farm in the morning mist.

Casino is finished!

2006-11-30T17:16:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful and fun knit!

This is the Casino shawl from Anne Hanson (www.knitspot.com).

I did the petite version using two skeins of Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Ebony colorway. This is a beautiful black with smokey brown and dark silvery gray. Yummy! Used #5 needles for the body and that was about right. Had a bit left over, but not much.

Started it in mid October, finished knitting Tuesday, blocked it Wednesday and wore it to work today!
Casino blocking. Thank goodness for blocking wires! LOL

Here is a closeup of the blocked shawl.

The black on black looked great, but didn't photograph so well. Hub is not Avedon!

And I cut my own head off - I repeat - hub is NOT a fashion photographer!

Thanksgiving Update

2006-11-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

well - I know it's past Thanksgiving, but that's when I took the pics, so that's what I am really updating! LOL

Very pleased to say that the baby blankie is finished! YAY!

Finished a quickie little boucle scarf for Christmas.

Made HUGE progress on Casino.

Not much progress at all on the Baltic Sea Stole or the entrelac scarf.

Started a pair of socks - Mountain Colors Bearfoot - I am liking it alot.

Started another little boucle scarf - this one in Schaefer Patti - a silk boucle. A little meh about this yarn. It's nice to try these things out on scarves! LOL

Blankie finished out at 24x30, so added 3x24 from last time: 72 sq in
Scarf finished at 5x50, so added 5x20: 100 sq in
Hard to measure Casino as it is a decreasing triangle, but am at about 27" deep and working the border. Someone else can do the math,but am guessing about 280 sq. in
Socks are 9" long by about 8" around: 72 sq in.
New boucle scarf is about 7x10 at this point: 70 sq in.
No pics of that one yet because the colors turned out crappy on the photo and I haven't had time for the redo.

So about 594 square inches for the month. Not too shabby, especially considering riding and working! LOL.

Picked up baby Callas from John's today. She goes off to the sale barn next weekend, but he thought she had a bit of an owie, so I want to get her to my vet before I send her away.

I have been riding tons, especially considering the weather.

Learned how to make a DVD with my Tivo - how fun is that?!? LOL

Knitting Update - Making Strides

2006-10-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Baby blankie is up to 27"! Once I finish off the partial ball of yarn in the pic, I am done. Will wash & dry and wrap up to go off to my nephew's family to await the new arrival.

Baltic Sea Stole - Haven't been doing a huge amount of work on this. But it's coming along. I try to get a little done every night even though I am focused on Casino right now.

Casino Shawl - This is where I have been spending most of my time. It's an Ann Hanson pattern and is absolutely gorgeous in Ebony Sea Silk.

Boucle Quick Ribbed Scarf - This is a cutesy little ball of Boucle Mohair Blend from Sheep and Wool. It will be a Christmas present for a neice. It's a fast knit.

Stash Enchancement! This is a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot. Hard to see in the pic, but it's a gorgeous muted blend of dark green, blue, charcoal and ochre. Destined to be a pair of socks. Then there are two skeins of CTH Fingering silk - maybe diagonal triangle tank or something similar. Then there is one skein of Schaefer Patty - boucle silk. Destined to be a Christmas scarf. And a skein of Blue Heron Beaded something - another Christmas scarf/small shawl.

Angora entrelac scarf - haven't touched it, so no new pics.

Total work done:
Blankie - 24x6
Stole - 15x3
Casino - 40(?)x7
Scarf - 5x30

About 580 square inches of knitting since last report! WOW! And that doesn't include any frogging of which there was a fair amount getting Casino started!

Baby Callas goes to Camp

2006-10-26T04:05:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to blog for days, but Blogger has been a bit difficult. Got in this am and here's a pony report!

We started little Callas this summer, but she was quite growthy and there were a few little bugs (bucking and rearing!) that didn't quite get ironed out. So she went off to "camp" at John's place.

She's doing great!

Here she is starting to walk with a connection (that soft bow in her neck).

Then we have a lovely relaxed canter.

Then she and John took a little break! LOL

Then they went for her FIRST trail ride where she learned to walk over a big tire. She was totally awesome.

On the knitting front, zipping along, but haven't finished anything new - will try to post pics this weekend.

Knitting Update - 10/15

2006-10-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well _ I have been a busy bee! I am glad I thought to put the tape measure on these things because at least I can see that I am making progress!!!

Finished the diagonal Triangle Tank. It's purty! DIdn't make the 10/10 b-day, but will ship it out this week.

Did another couple of inches on baby blankie. Better zoom on this one!

Three(!) more inches on the angora scarf. Didn't think I worked on it that much.

Only one more inch on the Baltic Sea Stole. Another one I had better get moving on. This is for a November birthday. LATE November thank goodness!

And the Casino Shawl, by Anne Hanson. It's in ebony Sea Silk and it's gonna be wazowie! when it's done.

Quick little knitting update!

2006-10-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Here's the diagonal Triangle Tank. Almost done. I actually had sewed it up, then realized that it was WAY too long in the armscye for my sis, so shortened it about 1 1/2". Left to do, restitch shoulder seams, put on finishing single crochet borders. Whew! Hope to do that tonight and finish for an October 10 b-day!

Baby blankie is at 20" in length. I am on skein #4. I definitely have another skein, but would have sworn that I bought six skeins - wierd. I think it will still be okay - probably about 24 x 30.

Added three inches on the entrelac scarf. I will be glad when this is done because frankly, I HATE this yarn. Like it less and less as I work with it, but I think the gal who is destined to get if for Christmas will love it. (she had BETTER! LOL)

Finally, the Baltic Sea Stole. Another 3" on that too. Too bad it photographs so poorly - it's really neat!

Once I finish Sis's top, I will put my nose to the grindstone on the tank and wrap that up, then probably start a claptois for one of the nieces for Christmas. I got some SWTC Phoenix on deep sale and that might be really pretty.

Okay - off to pack up for a clinic ride this afternoon. I am getting taped, so hopefully will be able to pull some stills off the tape.

Cowboy Shooting

2006-10-02T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hub and I went to the Northeast Regional Cowboy shooting champs - held nearby. Neither of our ponies are ready for prime time yet, but we went and rode the course without shooting. What the heck, we looked spiffy anyhow!

What makes this really funny is that both horses are dressage horses for their day jobs - cowboy shooting is not their main "thing". This is a good thing because we are't really good at it yet! LOL

On the knitting front - finished a beaded bracelet, but need to get some glue to secure the ends before I trim. Sis's diagonal tank is seamed up, but haven't finished the edging on it. Added a couple of inches to the entrelac scarf and the Baltic Sea Stole. Great week!

Working away!

2006-09-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday is our Mounted Cowboy Shoot (in Thurmont, MD - let me know if anyone wants details!), so I have been trying to get in some saddle time. Never the less, I have been knitting up a storm!

Here's my stuff....

Diagonal Triangle Tank blocking.

Baby Blankie moving right along.

Entrelac Scarf in progress. I decided not to change colors every row because I had to cut and tie off threads each time. Finishing was gonna be TOO Much work, so I am just carrying the color up the side.

Last but not least, the first couple of inches for the Baltic Sea Stole. I am doing it in Schaefer Andrea - the pattern calls for sport weight I think, so this will be a narrow shawl as I didn't add repeats for width. I think it's gonna be GORGEOUS!

Bad Blogger update!

2006-09-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well - I have been doing lots of stuff since I last touched base - more riding than knitting, but I managed a few things.

Finished objects - two Christmas scarves for the brothers-in-law. Did these in Louet Merlin - a bit splitty to knit with, but feels great in the hand and I think has very nice stitch definition.

WIPs
That daggone tank for me is still not done.

The diagonal triangle tank for sis is almost done.

The Andrea shawl for other sis is on hold until the triangle tank is done. Front is folded on left, back is on two sets of circs waiting for finishing details, then sew it together and VOILA! Of course, she lives in Montana and it's getting cold there. Guess she will just have to wait for spring!

And started an entrelac scarf out of angora that I got on deep discount. I am glad I tried it on the cheap because I don't like it much. It's actually too soft for my taste. I like a little more body. I think the entrelac will work well though and will give it a little support.

So the question is, I screwed up picking up the first row of green on the entrelac scarf. Frog it? or put some beads on it and hide it? LOL I think I will probably frog it. I hate making mistakes!

Hammerin' Hank models lace

2006-08-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

Amazing Lace #6 - Creatures of the Reef in Laceweight Linen

Hammerin' Hank is my horse-shoeing hubby.

Here, he models his lace as he prepares for work.

Horseshoer buns stylin' in lace.

Hank is willing to share his lace. Here baby Lulu shows Hank how stylin' is REALLY done!

(Please note that baby Lulu and Mom Aster are real customers. You can see them on their homepage at www.goodnessridge.com)

Hank has "wrapped up" for the day.

Diagonal Triangle Tank

2006-08-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

Front is done. Started the back last night. This is in a really gorgeous hand-painted silk that I got at Md Sheep & Wool.

It's a pretty easy knit. A little boring (garter stitch), but the short rows are kind of fun, and after the shawl a little boring is okay! LOL

I think it will be really pretty! It's for my sis in Montana.

At Long Last!!! CotR is finished!!!

2006-08-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

Creatures of the Reef Shawl is completed! Whoo Hoo! What a project that was.

I don't remember when I cast on. Late May? Maybe June.

This is in laceweight linen (Euroflax Milan) in lichen on #4 needles. It's a very beautiful subtle sage-y green. Took one 100 gram cone (625 yds) plus a little bit of the second cone. Now I have to figure out what to do with about 600 yards of laceweight linen!

Here it is on the blocking board. The board is 36x48.

Here it is draped over the balcony. It's amazing!!!

And here it is on the bed, so that you can see some of the patterns better. From the bottom, sea shell border, then a row of eyelet "bubbles", then some crabs and sea horses, more bubbles, some starfish, some bubbles, some fishies swimming left and some fishies swimming right and finally some frothy sea foam.

I did NOT feel the love starting out with this pattern. Made a mistake early on and had to tink back stitch by stitch over 800 stitches! Argh! But it gets easier as you get into the swing of it and each row gets shorter by 4 stitches, so the end actually gets very exciting! LOL

Anyway. DONE!

Sunshine, the Palomino Filly

2006-08-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Just 60 days under saddle. What a cutie pie!

Where's Waldo?

2006-08-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Fruit n' Lace. CotR fresh picked from the garden.

Just a quick update.

2006-07-31T05:20:00.000-07:00

Plugging along on CotR. Am now on the fish motif, row 105 or thereabouts. I am sure there are a few mistakes scattered about. I keep winding up either short a stitch or with an extra on the motifs, but hey - if you can spot it, more power to ya! LOL

Tank is languishing.

Baby blankie went with me on a short road trip yesterday and I got another inch or so done. It's so nice to have a "take-along" project. CotR - NO WAY. Tank would be okay, but I am at the yoke and will need a little more focus than I can offer on a car ride!

Rode Shadow in a REALLY good lesson Saturday, taught on him yesterday. Rode today and he was a dog. I am going to have to rethink using him as a lesson horse. OTOH, it is so freakin' hot that I wasn't very high energy myself. We didn't do much, but I did want to get him out. Pones are tucked away in the barn with their fans blowing. I always debate out or in, but I think it's less buggy in and at least they are assured a breeze with the fans on.

Then I put on my plantkiller hat and went out and applied round-up to the extensive weeds in the riding ring. I have tried the more natural method of pulling them up and I just can't keep up. So I apologized to the weeds and then squirted them.

Now to shower and off to work!

Yahoo!

2006-07-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

The camera is back in action!

This is the koigu baby blankie - wrong side on top, but I think both sides are pretty!

This is the Vittadini tank - I know it's hard to see - need better pics - but all I need to do is finish up the yoke.
And here's the Creatures of the Reef Shawl. Again hard to see, but you can at least see nice progress.

Onward and upward.

Saturday Update

2006-07-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Okay - so I ordered new batteries and a new charger for my camera. I am suffering too much with no photos! LOL They should be here soon.

Have only been working on the CotR shawl this week. Kinda dropped everything else. But making good progress. Finished the seahorse and crab motif and am almost done with the bubbles separator row. I like these things that start out huge and diminish. The rows just go faster and faster! Yay!

On the horse front, little Callas had a tummy ache this am. She seems better now, but that's always very worrisome. Shadow and Pro head off to a clinic this afternoon. NO PICS until I get my batteries. Next time!

Amazing Lace Entry - Contest #4.

2006-07-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I should really have entered Contest #3 because my camera is broken and I can't do pics. Did you know that Mercury is retrograde? It means that communication is difficult.

But I will try anyway - I can do WORD pictures with supporting illustration (all real pics are pre-broken cam) so here goes....

I am doing the Creatures of the Reef shawl in lace weight linen. It's a gorgeous willow green that is cool, airy, slightly slubby, threadlike, flowing and a real pain to frog when mistakes happen.

Here is an early incarnation - about 6 rows worth (that's 6x400+ - 2400+ stitches).

It is now about 4 inches deep by 400 stitches long. It's loooooong. (figure about 6 rows to the inch - 6x4x400=9600 stitches) Why am I obessessing about how many stitches? Dunno. Except maybe there is some "whine" factor involved for when I goofed up and had to tink back one stitch at a time for two whole rows. But we are on track now and a lifeline is in place!

So picture it - mostly border, just the teeniest edge of the seahorses and crabs in place.

/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8

So if I cast off right now, it could be:

Picture this.

A sofa dust ruffle.
~~~_______________ ~~~
~~(_______________) ~~
~~[@@@] [@@@] [@@@] ~~
~~/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\8/*\ ~~

Or maybe:

A bandolier
~~~~ _____] ^ ^ [______~~~~
~~~~( (.'.'. /*\ .'.'.'.' /8\.'.'.) ) ~~~~
~~~/ / .'.'.' /8\.'.'.' /*\.'.'.' \ \ ~~~~
~~/ /~ .'.'.'.' /*\.'. /8\ .'.'.'~\ \ ~~~
~ [ \~~ .'.'.'.'.'/8\/*\.'.'.'.'.'~/ ] ~~~
~~\ \~ .'.'.'.' /*\.'. /8\.'.'.'.~/ / ~~~
~~~\ \ .'.'. /8\.'.'.'.' /*\.'.'. / / ~~~~
~~~~() \\\\\\\\\//////// () ~~~~~

Still have to get the Camera Fixed...

2006-07-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

I have been diligently working away on three projects.

1) Vittadini tank. It's coming along nicely and I think will be very cool. Not the most interesting knit on the planet, but I think it will be nice. I added a teeny bit of shaping, so we will see how that does. I am about 3/4 done on this one. Back is complete, front is done almost to the armholes, but the yoke and bobbles take a while. My sis wants one too - going to make it out of some golden yellow Silky Wool - but sis is MUCH more amply endowed than I am, so I am thinking it might be fun to experiment with short row shaping for the bust.

2) Creatures of the Reef Shawl. I really need to make an Amazing Lace report on my trials and tribulations for this one. Stay tuned. I will write it up separately.

3) Baby blankie. Another koigu baby blankie on #4 needles. I am so nutz!!! I started this off in the same lattice pattern I used in Hank's vest. Love the pattern, but it didn't show off the yarn, so I frogged it, started again with the Swedish block pattern, which looks fabbo! But then I realized I had made it too wide and I was gonna run out of yarn (only I think I have another skein somewhere...) Anyhow, frogged again and restarted with fewer repeats, but now I am cooking along. Unlike the first baby blanket, which had a complex 18 row pattern repeat in which every single line was different (!) and in which I never got the flow of the pattern sufficiently to just buzz away, this is a very simple 6-row repeat. Whew!

I really do need to get batteries because I soon will have FO's and I want to publish pics of my progress anyhow!

So once these are knocked off. I have a linen top for youngest sis, the yellow tank for oldest sis, and some scrumptious silk I bought at MDS&W for yet another sis. I also have some silk/linen that I want to make up into a cropped jacket for moi, but haven't found a pattern yet that I love for it.

So I have been a busy bee.

Not much on the riding front. It is SO freakin' hot that the thought of long pants is ACK! Maybe will try to get up at 5:00 tomorrow am and ride in the cool. Baby Callas does come home today from Mel's. She has been under saddle for about 30 days. I may force Henry to ride her a bit - I am not so bold with greenies, but am going to see if I can get her bred, so she will have the year off to have a baby, then go back to work.

That's it!

Have to get that Camera Fixed.

2006-07-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

Knitting

A friend came by on Thursday and I was showing her my WIPs. She hadn't seen the Barbara Walker books, so we were flipping through - saw the Swedish block (or is it check - can't remember) in book 1 and mentioned how elegant it was. Then I was showing her baby blankie and I wasn't pleased with how it was knitting up - the variegation and the pattern were clashing with each other, so I had a little aha moment, ripped it out back to the garter stitch edge and restarted it with the Swedish block pattern. Ahhhh. Easy to stitch and I like how it's coming out.

So even though I worked WAY too many hours yesterday, I am back to where I started when I ripped. Feels good.

Tonight I will do a little on the baby blankie and see if I can get the CotR shawl back to where I goofed up.

Riding

Mel had a good day with Callas - a little bit of breakthrough in getting her to work and concentrate through distractions. Going down tomorrow, so should have some pics.

Haven't ridden all week myself. Between rain and work, ugh! Have a lesson today - am really enjoying the new teach.

Whew

2006-06-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Okay - I feel better.

Got the top back to where I am about to start the lace yolk. Will swatch that tonight & maybe get started.

Tinked back about half a row on CotR - will try to get the other half tonight, then have to do one more row. That row is mostly pure knit, so should be pretty easy (relatively speaking). Then I stick a lifeline in and stick to the mantra I should have stuck to. Don't knit when you are sleepy and especially don't knit LACE when you are sleepy!

I HATE Frogging

2006-06-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, I industriously worked away on the Vittadini top and the CotR shawl and messed them both up!

GRRRR.

So last night, I frogged the top back and restarted the yoke shaping. For some reason, I started the yoke and armhole shaping at the same point. But the armhole shaping doesn't start for another couple of inches after yoke shaping. I would have been "creative", but I think it would have looked dorky, so I frogged.

Worked my way back up to about where the armhole shaping should start, so will do that tonight and try to get the front to the point where I am ready for the lace yoke.

If I have time, will start to painstakingly tink back on CotR - can't just rip out a row on that one and pick up stitches. Bummer.

However, it has stopped raining and the sun is out! Yippee!

Bad Poster! Delayed update.

2006-06-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

I have been very remiss in keeping up. Busy busy busy! And my camera batteries have finally given up the ghost on recharging, so I need to get some more. So no pics until I get that squared away.

Lessee - Callas has gone down to Melanie's to be truly started under saddle. Yesterday she walked off lead for the first time. Mel reports that steering and brakes are not yet fully installed! LOL But she was just walking around the paddock, so that was okay. She also reports that she is quite lazy!

Shadow is doing great. He packed one of my students to a first and third at a show last weekend. And we have started riding with a new instructor who is very good. I am quite pleased. We did a little cowboy shooting. I made someone else ride him - good thing. That guy rides faster than I can and Shadow went faster than I have ever seen him go! Holy cow! We show this weekend and my camera toting pal will be there, so hopefully we get some pics. Also not supposed to be so hot - good thing. Heat is NOT Shadow's best subject!

On the knitting front - finished the Maggi's linen clapotis. Gotta gotta gotta get pics, it's GORGEOUS! It is supposed to be a gift, but I am struggling with that notion! LOL. Camo hat is done - very ugly, but I think the nephew will like it.

Working on the Vittadini shell - almost to the lace neckline stuff. Fairly boring knitting - just stockinette until you get to the neckline, but the yarn is really cool.

Got the linen for sis's ("baby" sis) top - it's Euroflax original in Neptune - a beautiful wedgewood kind of blue. Cast on for swatching, but am focusing on the shell, though the gauge looks a little goofy. Wound up going down two needle sizes for the shell and looks like this might be the same. Wonder if I am knitting differently? Doesn't feel like I am knitting particularly tight.

Finished the shell border row on the CotR shawl and started the first chart. OMG, this is gonna take forever. I have to commit to working on it at least one night per week, but I am not loving this process - I think I need to find a knit-along to help with the charts. Not terribly clear to me what is supposed to be happening.

Took a break from stashalong for two weeks. Basically got the linen for sis's top and a few cool & funky yarns to make Christmas presents with. I am thinking about felted purses for the neices, and maybe some crazy scarves for the sisters and not sure what for the bro-in-laws.

Baby blankie is on hold. I have to frog it back an inch or two and I am feeling cranky about that notion.

Cleaned up my little sitting room where I knit. Put stuff away - it's a much nicer space to work in now. Have a few more little touches and it will actually be respectable.

Well - I am really late for work. Better run!

This N That

2006-06-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of the clapotis I am working on out of my illicit Stashalong ooops! yarn. The pic doesn't capture the glorious turquoise of the yarn and the sheen of the linen. It's really pretty. That's pretty much all I am working on right now. Someone on knittyboard said "sorry Kate, it's a boring knit" and that's true, but just what I am needing right now. Kind of a mindless task, but the outcome is so pretty I just pet it every day!

Hank and I went on a judged pleasure ride yesterday with Pro and Shadow. Sorry no pics. I really wish I had brought my camera. A judged pleasure ride is a trail ride with obstacles. Each obstacle has a "judge" sitting by it who rates your performance through the obstacle. They were very cool, ranging from quite natural - a steep bank down to a muddy creek, to kind of surprising - the trail system there goes through a GIANT culvert. It was quite scary for my boy, but he tried like a champ. There were wooden bridges, a mailbox that you had to open and close, a "campsite" with a tent, a dummy on a cot and clothes hanging out. Fun stuff.

Pro took everything in stride - a little cautious in some places, but he is a very curious and confident horse. It's pretty cool because he was a big time show horse and I am sure he didn't spend much time out on the trails. Shadow is a bit more of a chicken and didn't do as well, but I was still really proud of him. He showed a ton of try working on things he was scared of. But I definitely need to get that boy out more! LOL

Mel came over and rode baby Callas again. Callas was still quite "exuberant" at first under saddle, so we need to work on longeing her under tack more. I ran short of time last week.

Heading out to feed the pones, catch a ride on a boarder's horse, do a little gardening, then YUCK - head into the office for a few hours.

Baby Callas got her first ride yesterday!

2006-05-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Melanie came over and backed my baby for me. She will go down to Mel's for 30 days or so, and then will be in very light work for the next 6 months or so. She is still quite immature physically, but a light program will be good for her busy little mind!

That saddle thing is SCARY!!!

Okay - so it's not so bad after all. I can trot around like a good girl!

And I can handle someone sitting on me! I am such a big girl!

She really was pleased with herself after all was said and done. And after her initial nervousness about the saddle was quite sensible - just had to include the drama pic!

On the knitting front - got some Maggi's linen at a really good sale and am working on a clapotis. along with all the other stuff that's still in work.

Quickie update

2006-05-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing really to photograph. Lots of stuff in barely beginning stages!

Baby blankie is about 4". Figure this is 1/9" of the way done. Hmmm. It doesn't sound quite so bad put that way!

COTR Shawl I am almost finished with the scallop edging - just have to gather all the yo's. About 1 1/4".

Started the camo hat for my nephew. I was going to put a spider on it, but I think I will just let it be camo all by itself. It's kind of cool looking in a goofy way! It's about 2" along.

Purple vest is on hold until I swatch, measure, wash and measure again. I am afraid I am going to have to frog, so am putting it off! LOL

Other WIPS - just sitting there for now. Trellis Scarf and a shawl in Blue Heron.

Lots of stuff lined up waiting for a start!

I have been a good little yarn gal and haven't bought a thing.

Henry and I took the pones to a nearby park this am and went for a nice hour and a half trail ride. Pones really enjoyed themselves. We did too!

Show pic

2006-05-22T04:29:00.000-07:00

Me and the Shadman at the show this weekend. Pics courtesy of my pal Shari.

Quick pics

2006-05-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

If Blogger will cooperate - a couple of quick pics of WIPS!

The blurry one is the Creatures of the Reef Shawl. 5 rows times 400+ stitches each, 20,000 stitches and it's sooooo short! LOL

The bright one is baby blankie #2 out of a sunny Koigu on #4 needles. Progressing nicely.

The purple one is a Vest in Progress, but I am a little concerned about gauge and it's really on hold until I have a little time to do math!

Horse showing today. Will bring baby blankie along as I show at 10:30, then not again until 4:30! ZZZZZZ

Ridin' lots

2006-05-17T03:06:00.000-07:00

Prepping for a big show this weekend. Riding every day. Man do I feel fit. And pone feels great too!

Cast on baby blankie (on 4's daggone it!) on Monday night. About 5 rows in. Haven't done any more on CotR - will do a couple of rows tonight.

I think the vest needs to be bigger. Measured it and it was 31" - mini! The yarn blooms, but I forgot to write down by how much, so will swatch again, measure, wash and block, measure and do math. Don't know it it will bloom 10"!!!! So might have to frog and start over. But it's gonna be sumthin!

Gotta run!

SKUNKED!!

2006-05-13T03:58:00.000-07:00

Well this was going to be a knitting update, but just had to report that Rowdy the bad got skunked last night. He is currently stashed in the horse trailer awaiting a bath. He's really stinky!!!!

On the knitting front, I have done three rows of Creatures of the Reef in Milan laceweight linen. It's knitting up fine, but I think I have decided that I am much happier in fingering weight! This is gonna take forever!!! LOL

Swatched my purple/black/gray wool/silk again. It wasn't going to work for the top I was thinking of, so am looking at doing a cropped vest. I only have 660 yards, so it's a bit of a squeeze to get a wearable out of it. No sleeves, no length to the body, no cables. This is a design challenge!!!

Swatched the koigu baby blanket yarn. Swatched on #5's, not totally happy with it, will swatch again on #4's and see if I have to force myself to suffer with the smaller needles. The yarn is really pretty, but a little bit girly - don't know if the baby is boy or girl at this point - was trying for a unisex yarn. Will have to post a pic and get opinions.

And I think that's lots of knitting (plus I have two lace WIP's that I should do something with).

Gotta feed the ponies and give the BAD dog a bath!

Finished!!!

2006-05-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

Whew! Finally finished hub's vest! It's in Alice Starmore Hebridean three-ply. I almost gave up a couple of times, but you gotta stand by your man! LOL

Also finished a cashmere scarf and a Diamond Fantasy Shawl but didn't get pics of those.

On the needles - linen lace Creatures of the Reef for my mom - just cast on.

Swatching for some other stuff. Blew a big wad of moola and got bunches of stuff at MDS&W - details on Stashalong.

Pone is doing FANTASTIC!

Speaking of which - I had better go ride!

Frustrated!!!

2006-04-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am SO close to done on hub's vest, but I have now put in and ripped out the button band 3 times! ARGH!

I think I just need to pick up more stitches, it is too tight, so that will be next "thing" to try, but I hate redoing. This tells me I am SO not cut out to be a knit designer! LOL

Also wound up tinking like 5 rows of the DFS - must be in a bad biorhythm place!

On the horse front, Shadow is back from the trainer's - all tuned up and lovely to ride! Just had the saddle fitting lady come out this am and we bought a new saddle for his wideness!

Since April 8, have ridden every day except for three! No wonder I am having trouble finishing any knitted items. Too much fanny in the saddle time! LOL

My photo op pal is gonna come and take pics of our ride this afternoon, so if she gets any good ones, will add them on later.

The Restash in pics

2006-04-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well - a friend of mine says "if it doesn't taste good enough to be worth the calories don't eat it!"

So here are my post/pre Stashalong splurges.

Euroflax Milan lace weight. Can't wait to get started with this. It's sitting by my desk as my petting yarn right now! LOL. This will be a Creatures of the Reef shawl.

Schaefer Andrea. Laceweight silk. Ohlala! This will be a TBD. Will swatch and see how it knits up as entrelac.

Lorna's Laces Sock. The camoflouge (?sp) color. For my nephew - a hat. Cabled spider. Ohyeah!

Last but not least - more Koigu. Another baby blanket. I am out of my freakin mind. Will swatch on 5's. If I don't get too anal, I might be able to do that instead of 4's. Crazed.

Horse stuff.

Rode little Biz today. She is such a nice little mare. Easy peasy. No bucks in the canter, left canter felt quite nice. Right canter still awfully stiff, but she is getting more supple. Also stepped on Ranger - a big chestnut QH who belongs to a student. What a fun horse. He's a little green, a little crooked, but nice movement and a nice disposition. Then hopped on Smokey (boarder) for a bit during the lesson with his owner. He is coming right along. I am most pleased with him. Need to drop a note to the folks who are training Shadow and ask for the weekly report. I miss my big baby boy!

Off to work the DFS - on repeat 6 - will probably take it to 8, but maybe more. Will decide as I go along.

Horsey De-Stash/Knitting Re-Stash

2006-04-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Not really, but...

Shadow has gone down to VA for a few weeks with my teacher. Getting some tuneup, getting him to understand some of the next level of work/movements he will be doing, so that he doesn't learn them from a dork! LOL So one pone down. Then my friend Mel had her filly at my place for a short while as her barn was full, and she took her home yesterday, so two pones down. Five horses! I won't know what to do with myself in the morning! LOL Rode my boarder's mare this am - delightful older QH - very well trained but a bit stiff. I am tuning up her canter so that my boarder, who is an adult beginner, will be able to learn to canter on a cadillac.

Knitting-wise, I re-stashed, but only with stuff that was earmarked for projects. Pics later -but 2 cones of Euroflax Milan for a lace shawl for my mom. 2 skeins of Shepherd Sock in Camo to make a hat for my nephew. I think I will cable a spider on it - very cool! 6 skeins of Koigu for baby blankie #2 and 1 skein of Andrea for a shawl for my sis. I might also try the boucle silk from Schaefer for my sis who is allergic to wool. So destashed 30 and added 9. Almost finished with my DFS shawl which will de-stash another 3.

Starting today, I am on a new stashalong for 2 months. So when the DFS shawl gets done, it will go in that pot. Then I STILL have to finish hubby's vest, but that should go quickly, then I think I will start on the baby blankie and the hat concurrently. The baby blankie will take a while. I need to swatch a bit to decide what stitch I want to use on this one.

That's all!

Really the windup!

2006-04-01T03:09:00.000-08:00

I MADE IT!!!!!

Didn't finish anything over the last couple of days - been helping hub with his www.marylandshallissue.org web updates.

I was gonna place an order at midnight plus one, but I was too sleepy. So as I fall off the wagon, this is what I am ordering...

1) 2 skeins of Euroflax linen laceweight for a shawl for my mom
- Was thinking another Diamond Fantasy, but I found the "Creatures of the Deep" shawl from Fiddlesticks and I think she will really like that - she is a beach girl at heart.
Yarn - (in the lichen color) http://www.darnityarn.com/index.php?item=46
Pattern - http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/CreaturesLarge.html
2) 1 skein of Schaefer Andrea for a shawl for my sis
- Haven't decided which shawl yet. I have lots of choices - I have the Myrna Stahlman book, plus several Barbara Walker books (design my own), plus the DFS or a couple of other Sivia Harding patterns, plus all the free stuff that's out there, so I will take a look at the yarn and swatch a bit and see what I come up with.
Picked the Frida Kahlo color http://www.schaeferyarn.com/yrn_cc_womencotton1.htm
3) "Something" for a shawl for me (maybe if I like that linen, I will get some for me)
-Am thinking the Baltic Sea Shawl or the entrelac shawl out of IK (Now that would be a CHALLENGE!

So I will still have a nice net loss in the stash and this yarn is all earmarked for definite "things". Mom has a september B-day and sis has an October b-day.

In the meantime, I will need to start cataloging my stash, so that I can target the reduction areas! I did sell some Noro and Poof on Ebay - forgot about that. There's a couple of other impulse buys that I should probably put up and just move down the road!

So add another 12 skeins to the de-stash - 10 Noro Silk Garden and 2 Poof. Whoo hoo - removed 30 skeins! That's pretty amazing.

The only other "problem" is that Maryland Sheep and Wool is the first weekend in May. That could be a small problem - ULP! But I promise not to buy 30 skeins! LOL

Stashalong windup

2006-03-29T05:10:00.000-08:00

Okay - here's what I used up during the Stashalong...
Seaman's Shawl (Myrna Stahlman)- 2 Sk Araucania Nature Wool.
Shari's Socks (Actually Wyvern socks Marnie McLean - very nice!) - 2 Sk Koigu
Peg's Scarf (self designed) - 2 sk Koigu
Horseshoe lace scarf (self designed) 1 sk Lisa Souza Cashmere
Baby blanket (self designed) 5 sk Koigu
Hank's Vest (not quite done, self designed) 6 sk Alice Starmore 3 ply

So counting Hanks vest - I think I am allowed it's only the neckband left used up 18 skeins of yarn! Not so bad!

On the sticks -
Dancing Leaf Shawl (Sivia Harding)- 3 sk Koigu
Trellis Lace Scarf (IK Winter)- 1 sk CTH Possum Lace
Linen Lace Shawl (Nancie Wiseman) 1 sk Blue Heron Sparkly Rayon
W - (knitty.com) 1 or 2? , not sure Schaefer Lauren

In planning stage -
DLS shawl for my mom - planning to get some Euroflax and try that
Kuba Vest - Kit from LaLana is in my stash.
Wyvern socks - for me - plan to use up the Lorna's laces for these.

Vest Q and DFS WIP

2006-03-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

Otay - here is the WIP Diamond Fantasy Shawl - in Koigu. It looks pretty nice when you pin it out! Kewl!

I have a dilemna too though. Here's the samples for the front/neck bands for hubs sweater. One is garter stitch (on the right), one is seed stitch (on the left). I like the buttonholes I practiced in the seed stitch swatch way better than the other buttonholes, so ignore the bad ones! LOL

Whaddya think? Garter/seed? I am leaning a bit towards the garter, but like 'em both okay.

Here's a closeup to help you decide...

And the almost finished object below!

And from Knitter in Progress...

A is for Age: 49
B is for Booze: Not a big drinker, but microbrews, white sangria, Merlot, Shiraz
C is for Career: Network Engineer
D is for Dad's Name: Mervin
E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: Dessert
F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment: The Wind (Warren Zevon)
G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Web Surf & play computer games
H is for Hometown: Great Falls, MT
I is for Instrument You Play: Mandolin
J is for Jam or Jelly you Like: UGH. Does Peanut butter count?
K is for Kids: None – 2 pups (gunner/Rowdy) 3 horses (Pro, Shadow, Callas)
L is for Living Arrangement: Small Farm with hub and critters
M is for Mom's Name: Carol
N is for Names of Good Friends: Shari, Mel, (Randy, Shelley, Kaja, Jo - sis’s)
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: ? Maybe for tonsils when I was two
P is for Pets: See K is for kids
Q is for Quotes you Like: "When will then be now? Never again." –Space Balls
R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: DH – going on 8 years
S is for Siblings: See N for Names of good Friends
T is for Texas: AustinU is for Unique Trait: Like to clean the barn!
V is for Vegetables You Love: Brussel Sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.
W is for Worst Traits: Sometimes bitchy!
X is for X-rays You've Had: teeth, knees
Y is for Yummy Food You Make: Fudge, stir-fried chix, Pork loin in mustard sauce
Z is for Zodiac Sign: Aries/Taurus cusp

More on the Blankie story

2006-03-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well - just got back from Fla. The wedding was err.... spectacular!

They held it outdoors on the beach, scheduled for sundown so that they would be married against the backdrop of a sunset. It was a beautiful idea and was beautiful to watch, however, the temps were unseasonably cold and a vicious north wind was whipping!

Bride's mom had provided her with a white hoodie sweatshirt with Just Married spelled out on the back in rhinestones (cuter than it sounds!), so after the ceremony, she hopped into her sweatshirt, but she was sooo cold. I made her open her present a bit early, so it spent the evening wrapped around mom!

She loved the colors and it certainly proved useful on the day!

I decided to go with #5 - the medium blues for the shawl. I was leaning towards the Lorna's laces, but someone commented that it might prove too stripey and could look a little funny, so maybe I will make a pair of socks instead. I liked the light blue also, but I am making it for me and with the farm life I am afraid it would show the dirt too much.

Finished two repeats of the lace patten now - about 70 rows - and it's very pretty. Not much to look at in process, but when you stretch it out, you can see that it will be very nice! No pics til later in the week. Next task - TAXES!